Ithaca Police arrested and charged a Cornell University student with one count of assault in the third degree after a fight in Collegetown the morning of Sept. 15. Police are investigating the incident, in which four or five white males allegedly shouted racial slurs at a black student, which then led to a physical confrontation, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. Police did not identify the arrested student.
Mayor Svante Myrick said the fight could have been classified as a hate crime since racial slurs were involved, according to the Sun. The student who was attacked, a junior at Cornell, had tried to break up a fight in his front yard on Eddy Street early Friday morning. When he confronted the people who were on his lawn, they began punching him in the face, he told the Sun. The junior was taken to Cayuga Medical Center to determine if he had suffered a concussion after the incident.
Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student and Campus Life at Cornell, said the university has launched an investigation into the incident in a statement released to the Cornell community. In his statement, he said the other students that may have been involved in the incident are allegedly part of an unaffiliated fraternity.
“Pending the outcome of the investigation, the students responsible will be sanctioned and the ability of the fraternity to return to campus will no longer be considered,” Lombardi said in his statement.
Police responded to the address of the incident at 1:38 a.m. Sept. 15., Lt. John Joly said in a press release, according to the Sun.
Lombardi also said in his statement the university is providing support for the victim and meeting with witnesses to understand the entirety of the incident.
