A Dartmouth College student visiting Brown University for a weekend Latino Ivy League conference asserted that he was assaulted by a Brown campus police officer Friday evening outside a Spanish House event.
The incident was described as “heated and physical’’ by Russell Carey, the university’s executive vice-president for planning and policy, in an email to the Brown community Saturday evening.
Brown officials are investigating the incident and the officer has been taken off patrol until the investigation is concluded. Brown cancelled the rest of what was to be a weekend-long conference after the incident.
The Dartmouth student was reported to be Geovanni Cuevas, a senior delegate to the Latinx Ivy League Conference., who says he was racially profiled by university cops.
Brown President Christina Paxson met with students yesterday and issued a statement saying “there are hardly words to convey the pain I heard expressed today by our students and guests who convened on campus this weekend for the Latinix Ivy League Conference.’’
Paxson apologized to Brown students and the other students attending the conference “ for the fear and pain this incident caused. And now I extend the this apology to our entire campus community, especially to our students of color – our African-American, Latinx, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander and multiracial students – for the hurt, anger confusion and frustration that this incident has contributed to our ongoing discussions about racism and inclusion at Brown.’’
Paxson said Brown is committed to rescheduling the conference. She also said that she will send a letter of apology to the presidents of the other Ivy League schools who sent delegates to the conference. Paxson also pledged to consider giving campus police officers “additional diversity and sensitivity training for all officers in our Department of Public Safety.’’
“These are immediate actions, but not the full extent of our work as a community to confront issues of diversity, inclusion, power, privilege, inequity and injustice. We cannot move forward until it is irrefutable from our actions and our deeds that students of color are valued members of our community,’’ Paxson said in an email to the Brown community.