The CU community has a lot to say about the recent bias-motivated assault on a student, and the CU administration is asking students to speak out against such attacks.
“My initial thought was just like- it’s nothing that I couldn’t believe, believe it or not, but it’s just unfortunate that it happened to Olubiyi,” said Nykeyia Chambliss, 21, a senior double-majoring in sociology and ethnic studies. “It’s just sad. It more angered me than made me feel bad.”
Chambliss is referring to CU student Olubiyi Ogundipe, a 19-year-old economics major, who was the victim of racially-motivated verbal and physical assault in Boulder two weeks ago.
According to the city of Boulder news site, in the early morning of Saturday, Sept. 18th, Ogundipe and a friend were walking down the corner of Broadway and Pleasant St. when they heard two men behind them. The suspects, now identified as Joseph Coy and Zachrey David Harris, both of Lafayette, Colo., reportedly used the n-word against Ogundipe, called Ogundipe and his friend monkeys, and told them to back to their country of origin.
After a verbal exchange, the confrontation turned violent as Coy began punching Ogundipe in the face repeatedly, with one blow knocking him to the ground.
According to Boulder’s news site, both Coy and Harris have been charged. Coy was booked at the scene and is being charged with one felony count of bias-motivated crime and another count of obstruction, as he attempted to run from Boulder police officers at the scene. Zachrey David Harris is being charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor of bias-motivated crime and a Class 3 misdemeanor of harassment.
Similarly, Maria Hardman, 19, a junior international affairs major and Boulder native, said that although Boulder is a very “white” community, it is a tolerant one. Indeed, Hardman said, incidents like these are not common in the city she grew up in.
“It’s kind of startling,” Hardman said. “Growing up in Boulder, that kind of stuff didn’t really happen.”
CU spokesperson Bronson Hilliard, who spoke on behalf of Chancellor Philip DiStefano, expressed both his and the Chancellor’s shock and indignation that the racially-motivated crime occurred in Boulder.
“I think that this is an affront to us all,” Hilliard said. “We’re well beyond this as a people and as a community. We should have advanced as a people further than this for these kinds of things to continue to happen.”
With regard to what students and community members can do to confront issues of racism and hate, Hilliard said action on behalf of both victims and bystanders.
Victims, Hilliard said, should by all means report any hate crimes committed against them while bystanders should take a fiercely active approach themselves.
“It’s very important that we confront racism and bigotry when we see it,” Hilliard said. “We need to stand up and say ‘that’s wrong, you’re not doing that in my community. You’re not doing that to my fellow student, to my faculty member, my friend, or to a member of my community.’”
Hilliard also said that the Chancellor is busy meeting with his different advisory committees, members of the CU Student Government and different members of the campus community, in order to battle issues revolving hate and racism, and to establish a public discourse regarding issues of race and racism.
“We’re looking for a way that we might create a permanent forum on racial, ethnic, and bigotry issues- that discussion is continuing,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve arrived yet at a precise formula but there are ideas coming forward from students, from alumni, from faculty and from others- and we’re listening to those ideas right now.”
In response to the Chancellor’s pledge as communicated by spokesperson Hilliard, Chambliss said that she will believe that proper action has been taken when she sees evidence of it.
“Actions do speak louder than words,” she said. “I don’t see what it is exactly that he’s trying to do. This is an issue that everybody needs to know about and it must be addressed properly.”
Hardman said that the greater Boulder community can’t continue to ignore such incidents.
“I think it means that the community of Boulder has a lot of issues it needs to work out,” Hardman said. “The community will need to deal with these issues before they get too out of hand.”
For more information about the bias-motivated crime, visit the Boulder Police Department website.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Neda Habibi at Neda.Habibi@colorado.edu.
