Another year, another slate of racist Halloween costumes on college campuses.
Several institutions have worked overtime in recent years to head off campus costume controversies, but each year they still abound. At least two incidents over the weekend — at Dickinson College, in Pennsylvania, and at the College of Charleston, in South Carolina — have sparked investigations.
A post shared on social media over the weekend showed a Dickinson student dressed in a Colin Kaepernick jersey, wearing an Afro wig, and kneeling with a gun pointed at his head. Joyce Bylander, the college’s vice president and dean of student life, sent a letter to the campus on Sunday after the administration had been made aware of the post.
“The costume and the image were deeply offensive and reflected the exercise of very poor judgment,” she wrote. The incident is being investigated, because guns — whether real or fake — are prohibited on the campus. She added, however, that members of the community “must all understand that this action, however distasteful, is a form of free expression.”
On Sunday night the University of Nevada at Reno’s police chief, Adam Garcia, apologized for one of his officers’ use of a costume of Mr. Kaepernick — who graduated from the university — as well. The officer wore a wig and a fake nose, as well as a sign around his neck that said, “Will stand for food,” a nod to Mr. Kaepernick’s protest of police brutality.
“Members of our profession are held to a higher standard and denigrating another — on or off duty — is insensitive for its lack of respect and lack of understanding on how others may negatively view their actions and may be impacted,” Mr. Garcia said in a written statement.
A university spokeswoman told the Reno Gazette-Journal that there is “no policy that would dictate disciplinary action” for the officer.
On Monday officials at the College of Charleston released a statement after they were made aware of a student’s allegedly dressing in a racist Halloween costume over the weekend.
A post on Facebook depicted a Charleston student wearing an orange jumpsuit with a piece of tape across the back and with the name “Freddie Gray” written on it. Mr. Gray was a 25-year-old black man who was injured while being arrested in Baltimore, and who later died due to those injuries. His death sparked mass protests against racism and police brutality in the city. The person who took the photo posted on Facebook was also allegedly a student at the college.
“This whole situation is very painful to many people, and I am extremely disappointed that something like this is connected to our university,” said Glenn F. McConnell, the institution’s president, in a written statement.
“Racism and intolerance of any kind have no place on our campus — and in our world.”
Adam Harris is a breaking-news reporter. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHSays or email him at adam.harris@chronicle.com.
