BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Four white people in a car yelled racist comments to a Black student at Lehigh University as they drove through the university's campus last weekend, then followed and assaulted the student, Lehigh police said in a release.
- A Lehigh University student who is Black was the subject of racist comments from four white people in a car, who then followed and assaulted him, Lehigh police said
- The student suffered no serious physical injuries, police said.
- Lehigh University President Joseph Helble called for an end to such incidents
"The Black Lehigh student ran after the car as a result of the hate speech before he disengaged and rejoined his group of friends walking on campus," the release from Lehigh Police Chief Jason Schiffer stated.
"The suspects got out of their car, followed the Lehigh student group and assaulted our Lehigh student. After an ongoing verbal exchange, some of the suspects pursued the group of students into a campus residence hall, assaulting our student again. Thankfully, our student suffered no serious physical injuries. The student has requested anonymity to protect privacy."
"This must stop."Lehigh University President Joseph Helble
Lehigh police said they have identified the people involved — all of whom left campus before the incident was reported to them — and are evaluating criminal charges.
In a letter attached to the incident report, Lehigh University President Joseph Helble called for an end to such a "wearily familiar scenario, occurring against the backdrop of recent events like the one in Kansas City, where on April 13 a white man shot a Black teen, Ralph Yarl, for mistakenly going to the wrong house."
"This must stop," Helble wrote.
Lehigh Interim Media Relations Director Amy White said the university would at this time have no information beyond what was in the release.
Lehigh in November reported an assault on a Black student that it at the time said was racially motivated, but the school said in January that an investigation determined it was not.
Helble said then it was determined that "racist language" was used in the attack, but did not elaborate why the categorization of the attack changed.
"For all of our students, and especially our students of color following this incident, we want to underscore that your safety and well-being are our highest priority," Helble wrote at the time.
At the time of the incident, Helble said in a college message that a Black student was walking off campus in the early morning hours and was physically assaulted by two white assailants who directed racist epithets at the student.
