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Charges of Race-Based Crime Under Investigation

Duke Police are investigating charges by an Asian-American student that his dorm room was broken into and ransacked and that he was subjected to racial slurs. The student also told police that his chemistry test results were stolen.

Duke Police Chief Clarence Birkhead said in a memo to President Nannerl O. Keohane that the State Bureau of Investigation has been asked to assist in the investigation of the allegations.

"At this point, we have not yet been able to establish that a hate crime has, in fact, occurred," Birkhead said April 27. "Our investigation continues and we hope to conclude it within the next several days."

The case began when the student filed a police report April 1 saying that he had returned from an out-of-town trip and found his room unlocked and ransacked. He said $100 was missing and a note was left with a derogatory, racially biased message. He also told police he had received derogatory e-mails a few days earlier and that a chemistry test he took March 23 had been stolen.

The incident became public April 24 when three officers of the student Asian American Association said in an e-mail to Provost Peter Lange, and widely distributed to others, that the case and another case of alleged harassment that was not pursued by the alleged victim "have elicited both anger and fear in many members of the Duke community ..."

The e-mail, signed by ASA President Patty Chen and two associates, also said, "equally appalling was the poor police response to the victim of the hate crime case and the lack of counseling and support made available to him."

The ASA officials also brought the matter to Keohane and she said in response April 27: " ... we are taking this matter seriously and will respond appropriately when the investigation is complete."

The president also said staff members in the Office of Institutional Equity and in Student Affairs "are always available to talk with students who feel they are victims of discrimination or harassment, or who are concerned or upset about situations that involve their fellow students."

"As your e-mail message suggests, we will take steps to make sure that the services available in both OIE and CAPS are more visible on campus. We do have a university policy and protocols on hate crimes and bias incidents, but need to make sure that they are better known and understood; we will be reviewing these policies to make sure that they are up to date and serve our needs."

In an accompanying e-mail, Student Affairs interim vice president Jim Clack said he and other university leaders "have received more then 100 e-mails from students expressing concern about harassment and discrimination against Asian Americans on campus, with a special focus on an allegation of a serious violation of the university's prohibition against biased incidents and hate crimes."

"Clearly, discrimination or the unfair treatment of an individual based solely or in part on race, gender, age, religion, disability, or sexual preference, or harassment because of the same, is unacceptable at Duke, and I want to assure you that this is the unambiguous position of the university's leaders. When any member of our university community is unfairly discriminated against, we are all harmed."

"As to the specific allegation that has prompted the recent concerns, I want to assure you that the university is taking this case extremely seriously," Clack said, enclosing an e-mail from Birkhead to Keohane in which the chief reinforces this point and indicates his own personal involvement in this investigation as well as the involvement of the State Bureau of Investigation. "In addition to a police investigation, a thorough review of aspects of the case is being conducted both by offices within the division of Student Affairs and by the Office of Institutional Equity."