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Racial Threat Called Hoax of Unhappy Black Student
Chicago Tribune ^ | April 27, 2005 | Susan Kuczka, Lisa Black,Courtney Flynn, and Barbara Bell

Posted on 04/29/2005 12:14:18 AM PDT by nickcarraway

A Trinity International University minority student unhappy about attending the school was charged with a hate crime after she confessed to sending racially threatening mail to minority classmates, prompting a temporary evacuation of black and Latino students from campus, authorities said Tuesday.

Alicia Hardin, 19, of Chicago, an African-American woman, was trying to convince her parents that the Bannockburn school was too dangerous for her, police said.

"We believe she wanted to attend a different college, and she thought if her parents saw Trinity as an unsafe environment, they'd let her transfer," Lake County Assistant State's Atty. Matthew Chancey said.

Hardin, who spent Monday night in Bannockburn's jail, also was charged with disorderly conduct. Bail was $5,000 in a brief hearing Tuesday at which she answered questions from Circuit Judge Victoria L. Martin with a soft, "Yes, Ma'am," or "No, Ma'am."

Hardin was released late Tuesday after her father, Lawrence Payton, posted bond, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said.

At Trinity, a Christian school, the atmosphere was one of shock and disbelief.

"This is an agonizing moment for Trinity, one that is unprecedented for our university," President Greg Waybright said in a statement. "We are heartbroken by this revelation because we consider each student a member of our family.

"We also have a sense of relief because this difficult situation appears to be resolved."

A handful of similar hoaxes have played out on other college campuses in the last five years, including some involving students who were Jewish, Muslim and African-American who falsely claimed to be victimized, said a former college administrator.

"I don't think it's widespread," said the former administrator, Greg Roberts, who isexecutive director of American College Personnel Association, in Washington. "It is a sad state of affairs. It generally reflects more internal problems with an

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: acadamialist; educationnews; fakehatecrimes; hatecrimehoax; students

1 posted on 04/29/2005 12:14:18 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
Racial Threat Called Is Hoax

Doesn't that always seem to be the case? She forgot to paint a swastika on her door...
2 posted on 04/29/2005 12:21:46 AM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: Welsh Rabbit

Why the evacuation of minority students? Is that any way to empower minorities? Doesn't that just say they're not ready to be integrated into school society? Forgive me for reading condescention into it.


3 posted on 04/29/2005 12:25:57 AM PDT by RockinRye
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To: RockinRye
Forgive me for reading condescention into it.

Not at all, you made a good point. Also, it sets a bad precedence; any other whack job out there now knows that all they have to do is send a couple of threatening letters and they can totally disrupt campus life. Didn't study for finals? No problem. Create a fake threat, then you have an excuse to get out of exams...
4 posted on 04/29/2005 12:45:31 AM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: nickcarraway

Rev. Jesse Jackson praised Trinity's leaders for the precautions they took in keeping students safe.

"We hope the trauma ends with this hoax. Racism, whether it is actual or manipulated, is morally wrong," he said. "We must work to clean up the environment that makes such a hoax believable, a hoax that does harm to so many individuals and the institution."


It'll never be cleaned up Jesse, as long as you keep feeding the fire. You have to keep racism talked up to keep the money rolling into your pockets.


5 posted on 04/29/2005 1:08:37 AM PDT by Razz Barry
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To: nickcarraway
Anyone who tries to play the race card for a lame reason is clearly not playing with a full deck. This has now happened so much that race cards are no longer honered by most people.

Even The Donald has suffered from the false playing of the race card


6 posted on 04/29/2005 1:13:09 AM PDT by Jeff Gordon (Recall Barbara Boxer)
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To: nickcarraway

If you are black and a democrat a hate crime is reclassified as a Hoax!


7 posted on 04/29/2005 3:56:24 AM PDT by chainsaw
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To: nickcarraway



Wow, and I read a thread here last night about a woman who left her sleeping sick toddler alone to go get medicine for her and she had a 50 thousand bail. I guess racism is alive.


8 posted on 04/29/2005 4:15:40 AM PDT by SouthernFreebird
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To: Welsh Rabbit
She forgot to paint a swastika on her door...

...and smear the dog feces all over her body.

9 posted on 04/29/2005 4:23:57 AM PDT by johnny7 (Ever wonder what's the 'crust' in 'Ol Crusty'?)
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To: nickcarraway

The whole situtation seems sad. I think that the student in question is highly disturbed and that this isn't something that we should be making barbs about.


10 posted on 04/29/2005 4:30:30 AM PDT by Accygirl
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