Racial Tensions at Several Campuses

Last week, the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa was debating the use of a racial slur and the campus reaction to it -- and over the weekend racial incidents at other campuses became known:

• At Georgetown College, in Kentucky, local police were summoned to the campus after a series of incidents, including the use of a racial slur, an offensive statement made in a classroom setting, and graffiti and symbols that appeared on parts of the campus, LEX18 News reported. Officials have condemned the incidents, but not provided details on what was said. A national fraternity, the Kappa Alpha Order, announced Saturday that it had suspended its Georgetown College chapter, pending investigations into whether its was involved in the use of racial slurs directed at a minority student, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
• At the University of Missouri at Columbia, authorities discovered a racial slur on a sculpture outside a dormitory, and a suspect has been arrested, KMOX News reported. The incident came a year after students at Missouri were angered by a scattering of cotton balls -- seen by many as a reference to slavery -- in front of the Black Culture Center.