Cornell Asian Students Complain of Abuse

After four anti-Asian assaults on campus this fall, Cornell University is considering far-reaching curriculum reforms to combat hate.

In mid-September, an Asian female student was sexually assaulted on campus. In the same week, another Asian student and four Asian alumnae were verbally harassed. Then, two weekends ago, an Asian male student was assaulted with racial slurs.

This week, Cornell University President Hunter R Rawlings III issued a statement urging students to take greater safety precautions and endorsed a series of proposals designed to increase campus security.

The proposals, which were first outlined in an administration report released Sunday, include increased security on campus and the possible addition of a diversity requirement to the curriculum.

In his statement, Rawlings wrote, "Crime and bias are realities in society and on our campus that we must confront."

But many students said they were not satisfied by the anti-bias actions taken by the university both before and after the assaults.

"I am utterly dismayed and frustrated," said Cornell junior Mike J. Brown. "If this can happen here, it can happen anywhere."

"The University has waited for someone to be attacked before finally taking action against bias, rather than engage in preventative measures," said Malik Dixon, another Cornell junior.

"I think the students think the administration isn't doing enough, but we are very concerned about what's happened," said Linda Grace-Kobas, director of Cornell's news service.

Over 40 student organizations, led by Cornell's Asian Pacific Americans for Action, issued a proposal last week urging the University to combat bias within Cornell. Recommendations in the proposal include offering workshops on racial and sexual relations, and expanding the school's ethnic and women's studies course offerings.

Dixon said the curriculum reforms would have positive effects on race relations on a campus where, he said, "Students of color do not feel secure."

Brown said he was pleased by the proposals offered by some student groups. But he said he wished more students were involved in combating hate crimes.

"The activist response was amazing, but the apathetic majority never got involved," he said. "If it had, the student response would have been much more effective."

Cornell's response to the anti-Asian incidents comes two months after two assaults at Harvard that Cambridge Police categorized as hate crimes.

In the first, a group of seven men whom police described as "skinheads" shouted at and then attacked several undergraduates on Mount Auburn Street. In the second, a Muslim undergraduate was assaulted by two men.