Incident reveals racial tension Midd marred by racially-motivated student altercation

Author: Katie Flagg

Dean of the College Tim Spears confirmed on Monday that two students have been disciplined for violating College policy following an encounter involving racial epithets allegedly followed by physical force. The Jan. 27 incident has sparked a Community Judicial Board inquiry and several meetings.

The altercation occurred on a Friday night after a white student verbally harassed a black student. Spears confirmed that a racial epithet was used during the incident, but the details of the event remain largely unclear. Students present at meetings held in response to the incident said the students exchanged blows, but administrators have only confirmed the use of racial slurs in defining the scope of the event.

"This particular incident is complicated," said Associate Dean of Student Affairs Karen Guttentag, "because it involves a number of allegations that have been disputed by participants and witnesses." Adding to this confusion is the closed judicial system, a process designed, according to Guttentag, to protect the "fairness of the process and the confidentiality of participants." In light of the judicial inquiry, the College has not released an official statement addressing the incident.

Dean of the College Tim Spears did confirm that "several Middlebury students" were involved in the incident, and noted that two students were disciplined following a judicial board hearing. "How they were disciplined is not a matter of public record," he said.

Spears continued, "I really can't comment on the details of the case."

The incident sparked several on-campus discussions about racial tension at the College, including an emergency meeting organized in the wake of the incident by African American Alliance (AAA) Secretary Aifuwa Ehigiator '08.

Ehigiator later said, "Bigger than everything, I thought that this attack on this African-American student was an attack on everyone who is against racism. In my opinion, this is why AAA decided to have the meeting. As students, we were all victims."

When classes resumed after February break, Spears facilitated a second meeting, called in response to the Jan. 30 student-organized meeting. This past Wednesday, Spears and other College administrators joined students in Carr Hall to further discuss student reactions to the event. While the meeting was not widely publicized, Spears explained that the second meeting was designed to meet directly and talk directly with students who had been involved in the AAA discussion.

"The conversation at the meetings ranged well beyond [the January] incident," said Spears, noting that in addition to addressing the racial climate at the College, many students "talked in some detail and very honestly about their feelings ... of discomfort on campus."

Guttentag and Spears acknowledged that, in the wake of incidents such as this, the College administration must maneuver a difficult path between alerting the student body and maintaining confidentiality for judicial processes. According to students present at last week's meeting, several students felt that the College was remiss in failing to issue a campus-wide statement acknowledging the event and its gravity.

"We're in a tough spot, when an incident like this takes place. The rules governing the judicial process limit our ability to talk about these incidents in full detail," said Spears. "We're all aware of the need to communicate more fully about these incidents."

Gus Jordan, director of the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life and chair of 2005-2006 Human Relations Committee, said, "I thought the meeting last week with students was genuine and heartfelt." Jordan, along with Guttentag, confirmed that the HRC is taking the lead role in using this incident as a case study for formal policy recommendation.

"My hope is that the recommendations of the HRC will build on other good recommendations from the past, and will continue to push us toward becoming a more healthy and hospitable community."

Despite these largely optimistic sentiments, Guttentag admitted that the problem of racial tensions is a particularly difficult challenge for a small liberal-arts college.

"I'm sad to report that I have been affiliated as a student or a staff member at five different selective colleges and universities in the last 20 years, and that racial tensions and incidents have occurred at every one of them," she said. "The good news is that this is not a Middlebury-specific problem. The bad news is that this is a national societal problem that manifests itself everywhere."

In addition to acknowledging the difficulty of addressing such widespread racial tensions, students and administrators also expressed a sense of disappointment that this incident occurred within the Middlebury community.

"The truth is that although I recognize that racism exists everywhere in this country, I never thought that I would ever hear incidents like this occur in a college where people are supposed to be educated," said Ehigiator.