UC regents sorry for acts of hate on campuses

sfgate.com
Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010


It's taken a series of venomous events - among them a hanging noose, a swastika etched in a Jewish student's door, and anti-gay slurs scribbled on walls - to shake University of California leaders into recognizing that the diversity problem on their campuses is serious.
But recognize it they did on Wednesday as regents, chancellors and UC President Mark Yudof spent the morning apologizing to students for allowing an atmosphere of hatred to fester on at least two campuses, San Diego and Davis. They acknowledged that racial tension undoubtedly exists on other UC campuses.
They laid out plans to make the largely white and Asian American schools more inclusive. And they decried the repeated, hateful incidents that began in February with a San Diego frat party mocking black students. A noose in the school's library followed. Then there was a student's closed-circuit TV rant using a racial slur for black people, and another student's photo that had been darkened and circulated.
At UC Davis, someone defaced the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center with derogatory words. And no fewer than six swastikas have been found on campus, the latest just days ago.
"I want to extend a personal apology to every African American kid, every Latino student and Jewish kid, and to every student that became aware of this," Eddie Island told fellow regents and dozens in the audience, from students to staff members. The regents are in San Francisco this week conducting their monthly meeting.
"We as a board failed to provide a nurturing environment," Island said. "We didn't intend to, but we have failed."

Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/24/BAH81CK9BM.DTL