Editorial | Getting all the facts

Last Wednesday, a male minority Penn student was the victim of racial discrimination when he was detained by police outside of Huntsman Hall.

Or was he?

According to Penn's Division of Public Safety and the student, who wishes to remain anonymous, he attempted to enter the Walnut Street entrance of Huntsman after 7 p.m. on Wednesday. He was prevented from entering by a security guard, since that entrance closes at 7 p.m. Later that evening, he approached the security guard, and the supervisor was called in. The supervisor believed the student was confrontational and called in a "fight-in-progress" to the police, who came and followed the procedure for such a call: The student was handcuffed and detained until police determined that he was affiliated with the University and that no one had sustained any injuries.

The next day, the United Minorities Council released a statement that labeled the incident as discrimination. They also stated that the University was directly at fault, due to previous events and "the failure to enact comprehensive change" regarding minority discrimination.

At first glance, it is understandable why this is being labeled as racial discrimination. Penn has dealt with instances of racial discrimination in the past, making the Penn community justifiably sensitive. The use of handcuffs seems excessive and, more importantly, it is unclear what circumstances led the supervisor to call in a "fight-in-progress" to the police.

However, too much about the incident is still unknown to make such a strong accusation against the University. The nature and extent of the altercation between the student and the guard is still disputed, leaving unanswered the question of whether the call to the police was justified.

That there are conflicting versions of the story means that a formal investigation is necessary. The University must take any accusation of racial discrimination seriously, with the realization that it is an important issue not only on campus, but throughout University City as well. If the student was targeted because of his race, then further action on the part of the University, in conjunction with DPS and Philadelphia Police, is absolutely in order.

But it is possible that the incident had nothing to do with race. While it is too late to take the accusation of racial discrimination back, it is unfortunate that conclusions were reached without full understanding of the incident.

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