Woman Calls Student N-Word, Accuses Him Of Stalking At CU Boulder

BOULDER, CO — Many University of Colorado Boulder students are demanding action after a video was posted on social media that shows a white woman using racist language while yelling at a black student. CU President Mark Kennedy said he supports the university's chancellor and the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance in launching an investigation into the confrontation.

"We will learn more in the next few days, but I want to be clear in unequivocally condemning racist and threatening behaviors," Kennedy stated in a tweet.

The video, which was taken in the university's engineering center, shows a white woman using the N-word while accusing a black male student of stalking her.

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The video has been circulated by several student activist groups that are demanding action.

"Being black is neither a crime, nor should it constitute a threat," read a post on the Black Student Alliance Facebook page. "We are watching @CUBoulder, we are waiting. I encourage our alumni to ask the University “what are you doing to protect your black students?” Push this issue through! We will not be silent!"

The video shows students trying to intervene and stand up for the black student after the racial slur was heard. A professor said he was going to phone CU Boulder police.

"Across all of its campuses, CU must support learning and working environments that foster respect for all students, faculty and staff," Kennedy said in a tweet.

The University of Colorado Boulder Police Department said it believes the woman who called the student the racial slur isn't a student or a CU Boulder affiliate. The department said it believes she is the same woman found camping on the campus in September.

CU Boulder police are asking anyone who knows the woman to call the department at (303) 492-6666. The woman is described as 130 to 140 pounds, standing 5'3 to 5'5 tall, with short blond hair.

CU Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano issued the following letter to the CU Boulder community Monday afternoon:

On Sunday, an act of racism occurred at our Engineering Center. This incident, in which bigoted language was directed at our students, was absolutely unacceptable.

I cannot state this strongly enough—racist behavior is offensive to our campus values and will not be tolerated. The CU Police Department is investigating and searching for the person who committed this racist act, who will be held accountable to the fullest extent possible. While we don’t believe she is affiliated with our campus, her actions are just as insulting to our values.

This incident reminds us of who we are as a campus community and the need for us to be vigilant in defending our values—and each other—on a daily basis. We are committed to an increasingly inclusive campus culture built upon the values of our Colorado Creed, and incidents like yesterday’s reinforce the difficult work we have yet to do.

We are working with campus and student leaders to prioritize next steps to address yesterday’s incident and improve upon our policies, trainings and resources for our campus community to reject intolerance and racism wherever they exist.

We must always be ready to look out for and care for ourselves and each other. A wealth of campus resources are available to support our students and other members of our campus community who are feeling the effects of yesterday’s incident, and I hope you will use them.

Updates will be published in CU Boulder Today as soon as they are available, and we look forward to demonstrating to the world what CU Boulder stands for and how we stand together as a community.