A Pennsylvania law school professor raised questions on Friday about why a Gettysburg College student who alleged that a teammate carved a racial slur on his chest chose not to speak with authorities regarding the incident.
"I don't think that saying questions are outstanding means that we are denying the person's experience or saying that what they have experienced or believe is wrong," F. Lee Francis, a former federal prosecutor and a professor from Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg, told ABC27. "But we do need to make sure we have our facts in order. How does something like this happen? It makes me wonder why the person would go to the media rather than going to the police if something as serious as a hate crime really did occur."
Gettysburg police reported that they had not heard about the incident before media reports released the family's statement. The victim's family has filed complaints with the NAACP Pennsylvania Conference, the NAACP Harrisburg chapter, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations, but has not pressed charges.
Several students, specifically leaders of the school's Black Students Union, have slammed school officials for their failure to take action and be transparent about the incident.
"We do commend the upperclassmen on the swim team who reported the incident and understand their position that this act does not reflect the values of the entire team. However, the nature of the attack suggests something more deliberate and troubling, and the lack of clear information has only raised more concerns. While we are cautious not to make assumptions, the questions surrounding this incident need to be fully and transparently addressed," the Black Student Union and the Gettysburg African Student Association said in a joint statement on Instagram on Tuesday.
The swim team member who allegedly etched the N-word on another student's chest with a box cutter is "no longer enrolled" at the school, though officials did not specify whether the student was expelled or left voluntarily.
Francis added that crime victims don't usually disclose the incidents to police, but that such an issue seems unlikely in this case considering how open the family has been about what happened.
Originally published in University Herald
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