SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ A committee formed at San Jose State University after a black student said his white roommates racially harassed and tortured him has issued a set of recommendations to the school on how it can improve safety and diversity on campus.
Some of the recommendations made by the Special Task Force on Racial Discrimination in its final report issued Friday are that the university should: provide diversity training for all students living in the dorms; create web links that allow people to anonymously report race-bias incidents; ensure that staff members make frequent visits to observe activities in dorms; conduct a campus climate survey every other year; and create an Office of Diversity Engagement and Inclusive Excellence.
“The task force has offered more than 50 suggestions,” said San Jose State President Mohammad Qayoumi in a statement. “In the aggregate, they reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives on this committee, as well as input offered by others.”
But, he added, “There are no easy or quick fixes.”
In March, the black student, Donald Williams, filed a $5 million claim against the university over the incident.
Williams’s four white suitemates _ Logan Beaschler and Colin Warren, both 18, Joseph Bomgardner, 19, and an unidentified juvenile _ are accused of putting a bike lock on his neck last fall, taunting him with racial slurs, barricading him in his room and putting up a Confederate flag.
They have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor hate crime charges.
