Less than 200 people attended yesterday's "Hate Crimes in America" panel, a heavily publicized event sponsored by the Harvard Foundation and Memorial Church.

The panel, held in Sanders Theater, featured relatives of Matthew Shepard, Ricky Byrdsong and Joseph Ileto, all killed in violent acts deemed hate crimes.

Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, was beaten to death in 1998. Byrdsong, a black athletic coach at Northwestern University, died in 1999 after being shot in a drive-by shooting. Ileto died in 1999 after being shot by a gunman attempting to shoot Jewish children at a childcare center.

Dr. S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and K. Anthony Appiah, professor of Afro-American studies and philosophy opened the panel with introductory remarks.

Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard's mother, said her son's death followed from not educating society about the consequences of hate.

"[His attackers] never once thought another gay, a queer, a fag would be missed," she said. "They regarded Matthew as subhuman because he was gay. Where did they get those views? From society."

Appiah, who said hate crimes were intended to keep certain people "in their place," stressed the panel's importance in stopping hate crimes.

"One of the most important forms of resistance [to hate crimes] is to not only refuse to be intimidated, but also to join in solidarity with those who refuse to be intimidated," he said.