[ Golden Gater Online - August 28, 1997 ]
Racial tension at SF State didn't take the summer off.
According to a statement released August 5 by the Office of Enrollment Planning & Management, two groups of college-bound students participating in two separate summer youth programs at SF State were involved in three instances of racial tension.
Some visiting college-bound students at SF State for a pre-med seminar allegedly assaulted incoming freshman and a staff member from the Enrollment Planning and Management's Summer Bridge program with racist language and gestures, according to the statement.
The assaults allegedly occurred over three days:
The statement was written by EOP Director Morris Head and Enrollment Planning & Management Executive Director Thomas Rutter. It asked that SF State President Robert Corrigan's office ban the visiting youth program, called the National Youth Leadership Conference, from campus.
Corrigan's office has not commented on the statement.
NYLF Executive Director George Hofmann Jr. was surprised to hear of the proposal to have the forum banned and said the charges against his students are unsubstantiated.
"Our young men and women are among the finest I've ever seen in my life," Hofmann said.
"We've been around for five years, based in five different locations, and no place else did we have any complaints such as these."
The Summer Bridge, a five-week EOP orientation program that helps prepare economically disadvantaged incoming freshmen for university life, has strict rules governing the conduct of their students, according to Head. The students immediately reported the incident to their counselors. A report of the incident went all the way up EOP's hierarchy to Enrollment Planning & Management.
By the time Enrollment Planning officials and NYLF representatives met to discuss the problem, the forum students allegedly involved had already left the campus after the 11-day seminar, so none of the NYLF students involved were questioned.
University officials asked Hofmann to hold an orientation dealing directly with race issues. Hofmann said he held orientations with his staff and talked to students who came to the next session, but did not try to contact the students allegedly involved with the SF State incident.
Officials also asked Hofmann to send a letter explaining the incident to the parents of the NYLF students who attended, and to write a second letter of apology to the Summer Bridge staff and student. He refused to write a letter of apology or any letter admitting wrong doing. According to Rutter, Hofmann said he doesn't know if the incident happened or not, but he resented the accusation.
"It grieves me that we have people who will make unsubstantiated claims, true or not," he said.
According to Rutter, Hofmann finally agreed to write a joint letter with Rutter, who submitted several drafts to the NYLF, but Hofmann concluded none were acceptable and would not comment on why.
The Washington D.C.-based NYLF is a non-profit organization that coordinates educational programs for high school students interested in medicine, the law and constitution, or the military. More than 350 students hand-picked from across the nation paid $1,585 for the seminars at SF State; a portion of the money goes to university.
[ Golden Gater - August 28, 1997 ]