Wesleyan Public Safety — No More Ethnic Descriptions for Suspects

The president of Wesleyan University announced this week it would cease racial descriptors — a big change to its campus-wide public safety alerts, according to the student-run blog Wesleying.

An all-campus email on March 27 by Michael Roth said, the public safety review committee, made up of students, staff and faculty, recommended that public safety "modify campus safety alerts to provide descriptions of suspects without using race as a descriptor."

Changes came about after the fall Wesleyan student forum, Diversity University: In Theory and In Practice, with three priorities set: improving interactions between public safety and students, increasing the scope and intensity of the diversity and inclusion program on campus, and enhancing town-gown connections.
 
According to Wesleying, the change recalls homecoming weekend in early November 2012, when "a sudden rash of safety incidents all described assailants as 'African-American males,' which sparked controversy on campus. Perhaps most interesting to Middletown residents is the committee's third goal, which the university has held meetings with "local stakeholders in education, community enhancement and economic development." 

Related information 
Racial Tension @ Wesleyan '89- '90 From Peaceful to Violent Protests