Forum confronts racism charges on CU campus

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 26, 2006 at midnight

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BOULDER - Minority students at the University of Colorado described being exposed to ethnic slurs and outright racism during a campus forum Wednesday night.

One black student said he was asked to leave a mostly white party because he did not know the host, while white students who were just as unfamiliar to the host were not ejected. Another student spoke of overhearing taunts because she is an Asian-American.

And one black student told of stumbling into a conversation at a party in which a white student was saying that blacks are genetically intellectually inferior and not worthy of attending college.

The last example, told by Chante Waters, a sophomore at the Leeds Business School, prompted CU President Hank Brown to react with visible anger.

"The kind of experience you describe is hideous and one you should never have been subject to," Brown told Waters during the 90-minute forum sponsored by a group of black community leaders.

"People who treat other people like that have no place here," Brown said. He later added, "You simply can't have people spouting that kind of trash."

The forum came four days after a blue ribbon commission appointed by Brown made 10 preliminary recommendations on how to improve diversity on the Boulder campus.

A Colorado lawmaker said that until CU shows progress, university officials should not count on his vote.

Peter Groff, D-Denver, said he has voted just as the university has requested on nearly every issue that has come up before the legislature. But unless something is done to improve the climate for blacks and minorities on campus, he said, that will no longer be the case.

"I'm done with that until I see some real, substantial change," Groff told the audience of about 100 people. "I'm angry about it."

He added that he hesitated to recommend CU when his niece recently talked to him about applying.

A black student also cited his frustration, calling Wednesday's forum "kind of pointless."

"We've had forum after forum," Jarvis Fuller said. "It's sad that we're continually asked what's going on on campus. . . . I think people know what the issues are."

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb urged the audience to keep working on addressing the problem.

"I have high hopes for this president," Webb said of Brown, adding that the situation is not isolated to the campus.

"I don't believe success has been realized at CU," Webb added. "But I believe we have the opportunity to do better than we're presently doing and I want to be part of that."

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