African-American assails BC on hate case

An African-American student at Boston College has said that campus police had not correctly investigated a case of hate speech.

This prompted 100 students to rally this week on campus to protest the university's response.

The alleged incident -- in which a white student is said to have shouted a racial slur at the African-American student and four of her friends last week in the dormitory where they all lived -- is being treated as hate speech.

The students, as a precautionary measure, have been transferred to other residence halls, said Jack Dunn, a school spokesman.Dunn declined to identify which students had been moved.

Dunn said the case is being investigated by the BC police, who will forward their findings to an administrative hearing board overseen by the dean of students.

The student guidebook defines a ``bias-motivated offense" as one ``committed against an individual because of his or her race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual orientation."

Students found guilty of committing a bias-motivated offense can face suspension or dismissal from the university.

Dunn said the only reported bias case on campus in recent years was the painting of a swastika in a campus office over the summer. That case is still under investigation, he said.

Dunn said that a quarter of the school's 8,900 undergraduates are Hispanic, African American, Asian, or Native American.

The students allegedly involved in the purported incident Thursday could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

Inés Maturana Sendoya, director of BC's minority student programs, did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment.