*A campus investigation is underway at Gettysburg College in southern Pennsylvania after a student allegedly etched a racial slur across another student’s chest during a social gathering earlier this month.
The small liberal arts college has remained in the headlines ever since the incident occurred and as the investigations continue.
The incident occurred on Sept. 6 at an informal gathering among the men’s swim team at an on-campus residence, as per the college’s and the aggrieved family’s statements. According to a statement by the victim’s family published in the campus newspaper, The Gettysburgian, the accused student used a box cutter to write the N-word across a teammate’s chest. The family has also pointed out that their son was the only person of color at the gathering.
The family added that a fellow student-athlete carried out the reprehensible act, someone their son considered his friend, someone whom he trusted.
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When upperclassmen students from the swim team either noticed or learned about what had happened, they reported the incident. Their reaction has since earned them praise from Gettysburg College president Bob Iuliano, who praised their handling of the incident in an email to the campus community on Thursday.
The student accused of the act has since left the school, but it’s unclear whether the student was expelled or decided to leave. The school would not offer more information, such as the names of the students involved, citing student privacy laws. According to the data on the school website, the school has about 2,200 students, of whom 62% are white while 21% are non-international students of color.
The investigation over the matter is close to being finished, per Jamie Yates, the college’s chief communications and marketing officer. The school plans to chart the way forward with the aggrieved family once the investigation closes.
“Those conversations have already begun and will continue. Both parties understand that this process will take time and are committed to working together,” Yates said, speaking to NPR.
But even as it cooperates with the school in the investigation, the aggrieved family has also gone ahead to file complaints of racial discrimination, harassment, and lack of due process with the NAACP Harrisburg chapter, the NAACP Pennsylvania conference, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations.
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