I don’t remember people getting really upset with President Clinton when he was re-elected. He was just as liberal as Obama so the only real difference I see between Clinton and Obama is that one is white and one is black. It saddens me that I have to explain these things to my children with no real justification of why it happens other than it just does. I know people are going to say this is an isolated incident but you know what, it is the elephant in the room and no one wants to talk about it. I have been with my wife for 22 years and we have had our share of racial incidents but I would have hoped by now they would have been much fewer and farther between. Sadly, that is not the case.
The following is Hampden-Sydney College’s statement on the incidents that occurred on Nov. 6.
Shortly after 11 PM on November 6, a group of about 40 students gathered near the Minority Student Union (MSU) house. Members of the group set off fireworks and threw bottles in response to the presidential election results. At some point, members of the group shouted racial epithets at the men at MSU threatening them with physical harm. The members of MSU notified campus security. The incident lasted less than 45 minutes, and the group was largely dispersed through the efforts of responsible students, especially fraternity officers. President Chris Howard and Dean of Students David Klein went to Fraternity Circle and spent approximately one hour meeting with students to determine what happened.
We are terribly disappointed with the students who participated in this harmful, senseless episode including those men who stood idly by and watched it happen. There is no place for bigotry or racism at Hampden-Sydney. In response to this incident, President Howard called a Town Hall meeting on the evening on November 7. Nearly 300 members of the Hampden-Sydney community gathered to address the incident and its implications for our community. We were all moved by the responses of our students, their condemnation of the incident, and their heartfelt appeals to brotherhood.
The incident on November 6 is under investigation and will be adjudicated by the Student Justice system.
