Black Student Union

A controversial student group at Towson University has again drawn criticism from other students who claim it is racist. But school administrators say they won't be taking any action against the group. On Saturday night, the group, Youth for Western Civilization, chalked messages that included the words "White Pride" at several visible locations on campus, including the Student Union and Freedom Square, said its president, Matthew Heimbach. When discovered Monday, the messages angered other student groups, who saw them as having nationalist connotations.

A student group at Towson University has again drawn criticism from other students who claim it is racist. But school administrators say they won't be taking any action against the group. On Saturday night, members of Youth for Western Civilization chalked messages that included the words "White Pride" at several locations on campus, including the Student Union and Freedom Square, said its president, Matthew Heimbach. When discovered Monday, the messages angered other students.

Johns Hopkins University students and faculty members will have more diversity training, and the history of racism will be incorporated into the campus curriculum and workshops, Hopkins President William R. Brody announced yesterday, responding to an outcry over a racially offensive fraternity party.

— A popular diversity official at the University of Maryland is considering applying for the presidency of a historically black college in Virginia, nearly six months after the announcement that his position would be terminated amid budget cuts. The university publicized plans in November to replace associate provost for equity and diversity Cordell Black with a part-time administrator, effective June 30. The final decision fell to Nariman Farvardin, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and spawned immediate protest, including a large November rally in support of Black's reinstatement.

Benjamin Karim, a longtime associate of Malcolm X during the years of his greatest popularity and the author of a new biography and memoir of the outspoken Nation of Islam leader, will speak at Western Maryland College on Feb. 16 as part of the college's observance of African-American History Month.Mr. Karim, who spent eight years working with Malcolm X in the Black Muslim movement, will discuss his experiences in a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in McDaniel Lounge. The event, like all others scheduled for the monthlong celebration, is free and open to the public.

University of Maryland, College Park police met with the state police, U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and U.S. attorney's office yesterday to plan the investigation into threatening letters sent to black student leaders and organizations this week."

Four "extremely crude and dangerous" notes threatening violence against African-Americans were delivered through campus mail at the University of Maryland, College Park about noon yesterday, school officials said."

2 school publications win awards from press association Two local school publications were recognized for excellence in the Maryland Scholastic Press Association's 2004 publications contest. Annapolis High School's literary magazine, Perception, advisor Leslie Gershon and the staff won an award in the first-place category. Wanda Trimnal, yearbook advisor, and the staff for Arundel High School's yearbook, Panorama, won an award in the third-place category. The Maryland Scholastic Press Association is a nonprofit association headquartered at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The scene on the television commercial is all too real: A young black boy sits at the dinner table with his mother, wondering why his older brother hasn't arrived home yet."Where's Michael?" he asks.Michael won't be coming home for dinner, we find out. He's dead. He overdosed on drugs.The commercial, part of an anti-drug campaign sponsored by the Baltimore Urban League, the city state's attorney's office and the Governor's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission, was created by members of the Maryland Black Student Alliance.

"Yo momma's so ugly, when she cries the tears roll down the back of her head because they too scared to go down the front," one woman shouted to her girlfriend."Well, yo family's so poor, when I went over to your house and stepped on a cigarette, your momma yelled 'who turned off the heat,' " said another.And the laughter of about 50 people resounded like a gospel choir in Western Maryland College's Baker Memorial Chapel Sunday night during the Black Student Union Drama Fest 1993.The intimate group was as diverse as the acts were different.

A Towson University adjunct professor was fired last week after using a racially insensitive term in his art class. Allen Zaruba, a local artist who had taught at Towson for 12 years, said he was discussing provocative works depicted in textbook chapters on the body and identity when he used the term. "I crossed the line," he said. "I made a terrible, terrible mistake." Zaruba, who is white, said his black stepfather used racial terms freely and that "I never quite got the horror of the word."

A diverse crowd of several hundred students gathered last night in College Park to express still-raw emotions after the discovery last week of a noose hanging on the campus of the state's flagship public college. "We reject intolerance," said Barrie Adleberg, 21, a senior majoring in African-American and Jewish studies. "Instead of empowering the complacent attitude that racism will exist, we unite as a united voice of resistance." Police are looking for whoever dangled a 3-foot rope with a small loop at its end from a tree outside a campus cultural center that is home to several black organizations.

The man who tried to assassinate George C. Wallace will soon be free after spending 35 years in a Maryland prison. Arthur Bremer could be released before December because of time earned for good behavior. The recent announcement ignited a flood of memories for me. Mr. Wallace was shot in Laurel while running for president in 1972. About three months later, the racist governor of Alabama was brought to a Birmingham hospital where I had a summer job. Spain Rehabilitation Center was known nationally for its work with spinal-cord-injury victims.

Johns Hopkins University officials have substantially reduced the punishment of a student suspended for posting online a "Halloween in the Hood" fraternity party invitation, according to an education foundation group that protested the university's actions. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said yesterday that Justin H. Park, a junior and former Sigma Chi fraternity member, contacted it with the results of the appeal. According to Greg Lukianoff, president of FIRE, Park said that he was satisfied with the outcome but wanted it to remain private.

Johns Hopkins University students and faculty members will have more diversity training, and the history of racism will be incorporated into the campus curriculum and workshops, Hopkins President William R. Brody announced yesterday, responding to an outcry over a racially offensive fraternity party.

2 school publications win awards from press association Two local school publications were recognized for excellence in the Maryland Scholastic Press Association's 2004 publications contest. Annapolis High School's literary magazine, Perception, advisor Leslie Gershon and the staff won an award in the first-place category. Wanda Trimnal, yearbook advisor, and the staff for Arundel High School's yearbook, Panorama, won an award in the third-place category. The Maryland Scholastic Press Association is a nonprofit association headquartered at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.

A Towson University adjunct professor was fired last week after using a racially insensitive term in his art class. Allen Zaruba, a local artist who had taught at Towson for 12 years, said he was discussing provocative works depicted in textbook chapters on the body and identity when he used the term. "I crossed the line," he said. "I made a terrible, terrible mistake." Zaruba, who is white, said his black stepfather used racial terms freely and that "I never quite got the horror of the word."