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LA JOLLA, Calif.—
The discovery of a noose found hanging in the UC San
Diego library prompted police Friday to open a hate-crime investigation.Authorities received reports about 10:30 Thursday night about the rope noose suspended from a bookcase on the seventh floor of Geisel Library, according to a bulletin released by the UCSD Police Department.
No one reported seeing the noose being placed in the area, which is next to an aisle and west-facing windows, officials said. This morning, however, a student came forward and admitted that she had put the knotted rope in the library, campus spokesman Rex Graham said.
There was no immediate word on whether the woman had been arrested, though the incident was being investigated as a hate crime and an act committed ``with intent to terrorize,'' Graham said.
Around midday, student angry about the incident and other recent racially charged occurrences at the La Jolla-area university marched on Chancellor Marye Anne Fox's office and entered, chanting ``Real pain, real change!'' as some of them played drums, according to reports from the scene.
The racial concerns on campus stemmed from a Presidents' Day party that was intended to mock Black History Month.
Called the ``Compton Cookout,'' the event encouraged attendees to dress and act in a manner that school officials say perpetuated racist stereotypes.
An invitation on Facebook urged female participants to dress as ``ghetto chicks'' and said fried chicken, watermelon and malt liquor would be served at the party.
The situation was inflamed several days later when racially insensitive language was reportedly used on a student-run television program called KoalaTV during a discussion about the party.
Utsav Gupta, president of the UCSD Associated Students, described the program as ``deeply offensive and hurtful'' and cut funding to all fee- supported student-run media organizations pending a review. Associated Students also revoked the charter for the student-run television station.
UCSD administrators have condemned the racially themed party and said in a statement they are investigating the incidents for violations of the student code of conduct.
On Wednesday, thousands of students and administrators attended a ``teach-in'' at the campus held to address the ghetto-themed party and the racial unrest it sparked on campus, but the event was disrupted when the bulk of students in attendance walked out.
About an hour into the event at the university's student center, two female students with the Black Student Union stood up and condemned it, with one saying, ``The university and our community will not be fixed by a two-hour teach-in.''
Saying the university was doing little to address racism on campus, the pair urged their fellow students in the packed auditorium and overflow room to march out of the event, and the vast majority complied.
The students filed out of the auditorium, loudly chanting ``Whose university? Our university!''
The students then gathered en masse outside the auditorium, continuing to chant. Members of the Black Student Union work black T-shirts with the slogan ``Real Pain Real Action.''
About 3,000 people gathered at the teach-in and resulting demonstration - - with whites making up about half of the crowd. About 2 percent of UCSD's students are black.
