U. of California at San Diego Settles Racial-Harassment Complaints

The University of California at San Diego has reached a settlement with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education after an investigation of racial-harassment complaints on the campus.

The complaints stemmed from several incidents, including public displays of hanging nooses and a Ku Klux Klan-style hood, that began last year and seemed to take aim at African-American students. The incidents prompted student protests, and the president of the University of California system, Mark G. Yudof, responded to the apparent racism on his Facebook page. “It has no place in civilized society, and it will not be tolerated—not on this particular campus, not on any University of California campus,” he wrote.

An off-campus party promoting African-American stereotypes also sparked controversy and complaints. A Facebook invitation for the party, called the “Compton Cookout,” asked women to dress as “ghetto chicks” and stated that watermelon, chicken, and malt liquor would be provided.

Following a federal investigation into the alleged incidents, government officials worked with the university to ease racial hostility on the campus.

A resolution agreement, which the university accepted voluntarily, will “take steps to prevent racial harassment on campus, respond appropriately to harassment that occurs, and eliminate any hostile environment resulting from harassment,” according to a statement from the Education Department.

As part of the agreement, the university agreed, among other things, to revise its racial-harassment policies to align with federal civil-rights laws, to maintain an Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination to respond to complaints, and to provide mandatory antidiscrimination training to students and staff.

“Students have a right to seek and obtain an education without facing racial harassment,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s civil-rights division, said in the statement. “UCSD, like all colleges and universities, has an obligation to make clear that racial discrimination and harassment on campus will not be tolerated.”