Student Reports Racial Epithets

In an interview last night, the student said she left the dance—held in Lowell House dining hall—at 1:15 a.m. with two female friends and was met outside Lowell’s front gate by one female and three or four white males who "were screaming racial slurs."

The student said she then addressed the group, at which point one male grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in the opposite direction from the group. She said the assailant then pointed to one of the other males in his group and said, "That guy over there said he wants to slaughter your people."

The student, who spoke under condition of anonymity because she said she was concerned for her safety, also said the group mocked Native Americans, saying words like "feathers" and "Injuns." At one point, one male told her, "We just wanted to poke fun at the PC nature of Harvard."

The student said the group was dressed in "preppy" clothes, and appeared between 18 and 20 years of age. She said she did not know whether they were Harvard students.

The student said she filed reports with Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and Lowell House officials yesterday. HUPD did not return requests for comment yesterday.

Diana L. Eck, Lowell House Master, said that she had heard of the incident after the dance from the student’s resident dean.

"I checked in on the event as it was closing down, and everyone had a fabulous time," she said. "I haven’t heard much beyond the first initial communication. But if [the incident] did happen, it’s very, very serious."

In an e-mail sent to a member of the Dharma executive board on Sunday and obtained by The Crimson, Ryan Spoering, the Lowell House resident dean, said that he had received reports of an incident following the Dharma dance.

"A student has reported that there was a group of people outside Lowell after the dance yelling racial slurs at departing students," he wrote.

"It’s just upsetting that this happened," Spoering said yesterday. "This is something that’s extremely serious."

Dharma Co-President Shyam K. Tanguturi ’07 said he was told that several students were met with racial slurs as they walked out of Lowell House onto Holyoke Place.

In an e-mail sent out Sunday to the open list of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, Tanguturi wrote, "Last night after the dance, Lowell House received reports of a group of people standing outside yelling racial slurs at departing students...Dharma is working along with Lowell House to investigate the situation and to support students who might have been affected."

All members of the Dharma executive board referred questions to the group’s co-presidents.

Vijay Yanamadala ’07, Dharma’s other co-president, said that he and other members of Dharma were worried about the larger implications implied by the alleged attacks on Saturday night.

"Such religiously and ethically motivated incidents of intolerance and hate, while uncommon on our campus, indicate to us that there is still need for better cultural awareness and understanding," he wrote in an e-mail.

According to Yanamadala, Dharma throws the Hungama Dance every semester as part of an effort to "raise awareness of the art, culture, and religion of India." He estimated that 200 people attended the event on Saturday night.

—Staff writer Liz C. Goodwin can be reached at goodwin@fas.harvard.edu.
 —Staff writer Reed B. Rayman can be reached at rrayman@fas.harvard.edu.