Leaked email contains racist language, references sexual assault

In the wake of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon scandal, another fraternity appears to be under fire for alleged racism and, this time, references to sexual assault. An email from July 2014 surfaced on social media on March 12, 2015, prompting several hashtags as students as students demand justice for the email.

On Thursday, March 12, an email dating back to Jan. 18, 2014, has made its way around social media. The email, sent from University of Maryland student AJ Hurwitz to his fellow Kappa Sigma brothers, describes minority women as racial slurs such as “n***** gals” or “curry monsters”, and even goes as far as to propose sexual assault with the line “f*** consent”.

A Kappa Sigma member explains the email: “One misconception about this email is that it was not sent to the entire fraternity,” he says. “It was sent to a group of approximately 15 brothers. Almost all of those brothers graduated.”

The member, a friend of Hurwitz, believes the email’s author is a “kind, caring kid”.

“I want to make it clear that the man AJ is is not fairly represented by that email and is not being [treated] fairly,” he says.

The publication of this email has sparked online outrage as several UMD students as well as local tweeters voiced their concerns under the hashtags #ajhurwitz and #umdracism.

On March 13, UMD President Wallace D. Loh released an official statement regarding the controversial email.

He states that the university has been aware of the email since Tuesday, March 10.

“The vulgar language in the email expresses views that are reprehensible to our campus community,” Loh writes. “We immediately met with the individual involved and a University investigation is currently underway, led by the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct.”

According to Loh, the fraternity is undergoing “educational training on diversity and respect”.

The aforementioned Kappa Sigma member elaborates on this statement: “We will work with the TODAY, the C.A.R.E. organization, the health center about sexual assault prevention, and bystander intervention training for all of our members.”

As of March 13, the words “F*** RACIST FRATS” have been spraypainted outside of the McKeldin Library by an unnamed vandalist.

Hurwitz, a senior public health student, no longer has any social media accounts under his name.

 

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Police investigation into alleged campus incident last year; no criminal charges filed

Two UMBC students have been dismissed from campus for violating the student code of conduct following the alleged sexual assault of another student last August.

Dinah Winnick, UMBC’s Director of Communications, confirmed that two students were expelled following disciplinary hearings related to the alleged sexual assault of a female student. The identities of the two accused individuals and the victim have not been released, and officials declined to comment on the exact violations of the student code of conduct.

Police and school officials first said that they were investigating “a suspicious incident” in December. According to police reports obtained by the Baltimore Sun, the incident consisted of allegations that four male students had gang-raped a female student in a dorm in August.

The woman who reported the assault told authorities that someone had told her in October that she had supposedly had sex with four students at a party back in August, according to a county police report. The accused students who were interviewed claimed that the sex was consensual.

After being told by an investigator that the suspects had described the sexual encounter in detail and that “she had made inconsistent statements,” the woman revealed that she had not wanted to get the accused students into trouble. She also stated that her father had insisted upon her reporting the incident to the police.

Winnick cited federal privacy laws for why the school did not release the identities of those involved. Baltimore County detectives did not charge anyone in the case, stating that there was no evidence that a crime occurred.

Laura Dunn, founder of the national organization SurvJustice and the victim’s attorney, said that she is “happy the campus investigated and took this seriously.” Dunn said, “that’s not something you see at every school.”

Poulomi Banerjee, a junior health administration and public health major, similarly commended UMBC’s handling of the incident. “I’m glad that UMBC handled the investigation appropriately according to the woman. There have been schools where nothing happened to the suspect,” she said. “UMBC’s pretty good with [the] GreenDot program as well as the advocates who are teaching students about this.”

At the same time, questions have arisen concerning the county police’s handling of the woman’s allegations. According to Dunn, police interviewed only three of the four men originally accused. Furthermore, police supposedly did not utilize “swipe records” of key cards to determine who entered and left the building in which the assault allegedly occurred.

Banerjee raised similar concerns when discussing the police investigation. “Only two of [the four men] were expelled, so what happened with the other two? Specifically, what happened with that one who wasn’t interviewed?” she posed.

When reached to for comment by the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger declined to comment on the case. He said simply that the police lacked enough evidence to proceed with an investigation.

The woman’s father released a statement through Dunn criticizing the police for releasing information to media, according to the Sun. He also criticized what he described as a lack of “due diligence” on the legal system’s part.

Winners 2015 Honors College Council Retriever Bowl

1^st Place: Bowl Toppers  Prize: $100 Grilled Cheese Co. Gift Card

Alyson Griese  
Robin Coltri  
Cameron Rhode  
William Dean  
Alexander Jalota    
Daniel Brezina  

The international women’s day marchers take a stand

On Sunday, March 8, citizens organized a march through Baltimore to bring awareness to gender inequality and social injustice in celebration of International Women’s Day. The event kicked off with a vigil for our fallen sisters who’ve worked hard for women all over the world to reach the state they’re in today. Several UMBC students were present, and one even sang a song commemorating a famous human rights icon.

International Women’s Day, celebrated for over a century, aims to celebrate disenfranchised women around the globe, including sweatshop laborers, mothers, activists, workers, artists, strippers and anyone who identifies as a woman.

It’s an annual holiday held on March 8, and this year women and girls around the world chose to celebrate it mostly through social media campaigns. The People’s Power Assembly of Baltimore hosted a march from the Health Care for the Homeless building to the Brown Memorial Woodbury Presbyterian Church for a light supper, stopping by the women’s detention center along the way.

The march began promptly at 3:30 p.m. with a short vigil dedicated to female ancestors and women’s lives lost in the past. The speaker led the vigil by pouring a bit of water from a bottle onto the sidewalk as surrounding marchers called out women’s names: Nina Simone, Ella Baker, Mahalia Jackson and more.

The line then proceeded down Fallsway towards the Baltimore City Detention Center chanting “Free our sisters! Free ourselves!” and “Que queremos? Justicia! Cuando? Ahora!” Once they reached the prison, an open mic was held where marchers were allowed to read poetry, speak their minds or sing songs.

Sharon Black, a People’s Power Assembly leader, shared some words on the state of incarcerated women and female laborers in contemporary America: “People don’t deserve to be locked behind bars and treated like animals,” she said into a megaphone. “Our sisters deserve respect … We’re not only marching for control of our own bodies, for defense of Planned Parenthood … because that’s only one half of the puzzle. The other half of the puzzle is the right to raise healthy children.”

After Black’s speech, one long-time protester read “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, and another voiced her frustrations as a pregnant ex-Walmart employee. UMBC student and activist Benji Schulman, a freshman psychology and social work major, proceeded to sing a song about Harriet Tubman.

The group then marched to Brown Memorial Woodbury Presbyterian Church, where they were fed macaroni and cheese, rice, several types of chili and “kale slaw” (cole slaw with raw kale as the main ingredient) provided by men from the People’s Power Assembly.

Brianne Best, a junior English major at UMBC, was in attendance as well, marching along with the group. As a member of the Women of Color Coalition and the Critical Social Justice Alliance, she said that she “just wanted to bring more awareness on- and off-campus.” When asked why she decided to join in the protest, Best described Ferguson as her source of inspiration.

“I only got to go to one Ferguson protest in Baltimore with the People’s Power Assembly and wanted to go to another,” she said. “I love protesting because you get to meet new people and bring attention to social justice issues. UMBC seems to be a bit apathetic to them.”