The US Coast Guard Academy says an investigator has recommended discipline against two white cadets for harassing a black classmate.
The investigation was prompted by an October incident that happened while the black cadet and his roommate, a white cadet, were doing homework in their room.
A third cadet, also white, came to the black cadet’s room and played a racially offensive song.
An investigation was prompted by an October incident that happened while the black cadet and his roommate, a white cadet, were doing homework. A third cadet, also white, came to the black cadet’s room and played a racially offensive song. Pictured is the Coast Guard Academy
After leaving to tell a diversity peer counselor, the black cadet returned to find the background screen on his computer had been changed to show the Mississippi state flag, which includes the Confederate battle flag.
When asked about it, his roommate told him it was ‘just a joke,’ academy spokesman David Santos told The Day.
The Connecticut-based academy said Wednesday that two investigations by the Coast Guard found the white cadets harassed their classmate.
Investigators found that by changing the background to the Mississippi flag, the two white cadets ‘committed prohibited harassment by creating an offensive environment on the basis of race’.
An investigator recommended the students be charged with violations of the Regulations of the Corps of Cadets, failure to use good judgment and lack of or failure to respect.
The two cadets face discipline ranging from demerits to a recommendation for disenrollment.
Capt. Melissa Rivera, commandant of cadets, will decide whether to dismiss the charges or punish the cadets, according The Day.
Superintendent Rear Adm. James Rendon was angered by the incident and held an academy-wide meeting, saying the school ‘will not tolerate racist behavior of any kind’. The identities of all three cadets were withheld.
An investigator recommended the students be charged with violations of the Regulations of the Corps of Cadets. The two cadets face discipline ranging from demerits to a recommendation for disenrollment.. Pictured is the Coast Guard Academy