University of Maryland investigation finds no policy violation in racist, sexist email

[mahatmakanejeeves]

UMD investigation finds no policy violation in racist, sexist email

University President Wallace Loh sent an email to the campus community Wednesday night regarding incident

Posted: Wednesday, April 1, 2015 6:30 pm | Updated: 12:34 am, Thu Apr 2, 2015.

by Ellie Silverman
[e-mail] | @esilverman11

The University of Maryland’s investigation into the offensive email sent in January 2014 by a former university Kappa Sigma fraternity member found the email did not violate university policy, according to an email university President Wallace Loh sent to the university community Wednesday night.

The Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, University Police and Prince George’s County Police conducted the investigation, which found the email signed “AJ Hurwitz” posed no explicit need for disciplinary action, said Catherine Carroll, the office’s director and Title IX officer. ... Investigators conducted extensive interviews about the email’s content as well as the “time, place, manner, and effects of the message,” and did not find any subsequent conduct “that raised safety concerns,” Loh said in his email. ... “The email is generally protected speech under the First Amendment,” Carroll said.

In his email, Loh provided a statement from the email’s author, who apologized for offending the campus with his email’s language and said he is “committed to becoming a better person.” The author's parents also apologized to the university. ... “I regret sending that email more than I’ll ever be able to put into words. I know there is no way to erase this incident or the agony it has caused, but I want you to know that I will strive to never use such language again,” the student’s statement said. “I have learned an important life lesson, realizing there is no room for hate or prejudice of any kind in our community.”

Loh asked for the university to forgive the author “not for his sake, but for our own. It frees us from our hurt and anger.”

I've said this many times, but I count my lucky stars that there was no Internet around when I was that age.