Bias incident reported at Clark College

Clark College responded this week to what it calls a “biased-based incident” after someone wrote a racial slur on a public art installation in the Frost Art Complex on campus.

A student reported seeing a slur targeting African-Americans written on the display Monday, said college spokesman Chato Hazelbaker, but there were no eyewitnesses or security footage of the incident.

Vice President of Administrative Services Bob Williamson alerted the campus of the incident in an email Tuesday, as first reported by the Clark College student newspaper, The Independent.

Such incidents, Williamson wrote, “are completely inconsistent with our values.”

“We are, and will continue to be, committed to ensuring a safe, inclusive and supportive environment for all members of the college community,” Williamson said.

Hazelbaker said the college sends an email reminding students of its policy on discrimination and harassment every quarter.

“The timing is such that there was actually a biased-based incident,” he said.

This is the first such incident of its kind on campus this school year, Hazelbaker said.

When such incidents occur, the college convenes its Bias Based Incident Response Team, made up of administrative officials. That group is able to discuss how to respond and try to prevent such future incidents, Hazelbaker said.

Students who see such harassment should notify the campus’s director of security at 360-992-2133 or the Office of Diversity and Equity at 360-992-2053.