Patrick Hall at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The college is under investigation because a student is no longer enrolled after he was found guilty of carving a racial slur into another student’s chest.
Matt Rourke/AP
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Matt Rourke/AP
A student at Gettysburg College in southern Pennsylvania has left the school after an investigation on campus revealed that the student carved a racial slur on another student’s chest during a social event earlier this month.
Gettysburg College told NPR on Monday that the student was no longer enrolled, but declined to comment on whether the student was expelled or decided to leave, citing student privacy laws. The names of the students involved were also not released.
In recent weeks, the small liberal arts college of about 2,200 students made national headlines after the school announced it was investigating a report of a hate crime. According to the school’s website, 62% of its students are white, while 21% are international students of color.
The incident occurred on Sept. 6 during an informal meeting of the men’s swim team in a campus dormitory, according to statements from the college and the victim’s family.
There, a student used a box cutter to write the N-word on the chest of a teammate, the victim’s family wrote in a statement published Friday in the campus newspaper The Gettysburgian. The family added that their son was the only person of color at the gathering.
“The reprehensible act was committed by a fellow student and athlete, by someone he considered his friend, by someone he trusted,” the family said, according to the newspaper.
The incident was later reported by senior students on the swim team – and they received applause from Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano in an email to the campus community on Thursday. Iuliano added that two students have since been suspended from the swim team.
On Monday, Jamie Yates, the college’s communications and marketing officer, told NPR that the investigation is nearing completion and that once it is complete, the school will work with the family to “move forward in the most constructive way.”
“These discussions have already begun and will continue. Both parties recognize that this process will take time and are committed to working together,” Yates said.
In her statement to The Gettysburgian Last week, the victim’s family said their son chose to attend Gettysburg College because “he felt at home on this campus.” Since enrolling, both their son and his family have felt welcomed by students, parents and staff. They added that in recent weeks, some classmates have reached out to their son to check on his well-being, while others have chosen “not to have any interaction with him.”
“Our intention is that a heinous act can serve – to some extent – as a transformative moment for Gettysburg College to live up to its ideals of diversity, inclusion and equity,” the family said, according to the newspaper.
The family added that in addition to supporting the school’s investigation, they have also filed complaints alleging racial discrimination, hazing and lack of due process with the Harrisburg chapter of the NAACP, the Pennsylvania Conference of the NAACP and the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations.
