Brawl Mars Unity Effort at Chapman : Race: The weekend fight between two blacks and a large group of white students left three people injured.

Despite a yearlong focus on cultural diversity that included observing Unity Week in January, Chapman University was the scene of a weekend melee between black and white students.

Two black students, Marc Hodges and Azziem Ali, said they were walking by Morlan Residence Hall to check on a fire alarm at about 1 a.m. Saturday when a white student made a racial remark.

After words were exchanged, the white student left, but returned with a group of other white students who began fighting with the blacks, according to witnesses who also said the whites had been drinking at a fraternity party.

As many as 20 students ran out from the dorm and joined the melee, according to witnesses.

Ali sustained a bone chip in the right thumb; and Hodges some bumps and bruises. One campus security officer suffered a concussion while trying to break up the fight, university officials said Monday.

The officials gave few details about the incident, saying they were still interviewing witnesses and participants.

Chapman President Jim Doti on Monday issued a statement saying: “Naturally, all aspects of this situation are deeply disturbing to me, particularly after the tremendous effort put forth by organizers of Unity Week and this year’s full calendar of enlightening multicultural activities throughout campus.”

Though students said they were not aware of any recent racial fight, some were taken aback by Saturday’s violence.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” said Hodges, who graduates in two weeks. “Other than the cuss words and such, I’d never expect this to happen.”

The incident is not exclusive to Chapman, said Rusty Kennedy of the Orange County Human Relations Commission.

“Chapman is not unlike other colleges in the county,” Kennedy said. “Lots of campuses have had (student) clubs . . . defaced with racist, anti-Semitic or gay-bashing graffiti.”

The university, situated in historic Old Town Orange, has made cultural diversity its priority this year.

About 30% of Chapman’s 2,600 students are minorities, with blacks making up 3.8%.

As the campus becomes more diverse, administrators are trying to make multiculturalism a part of students’ curriculum and campus life.

“Issues relating to racism and sexism have been my primary focal point this year, as well as the university’s,” said Joe Kertes, dean of students. “We are aware that we are doing a lot, but more can be done.”

Students are required to take multicultural courses to graduate. The school set up a diversity committee after anti-Semitic flyers were posted in the student residence hall last year. “Melting pot” activities and forums are planned all year.

Panels on race relations and racism, however, are sparsely attended, said Krystel Edmonds, president of the Black Student Union.

Student Edward Boone acknowledged racism exists on campus, as it does in the general population. He’d like to see university officials take a firm stand and not tolerate racism.

He said he’d like to see the white students who were involved in the Saturday incident “educated, like performing community service in a predominantly black neighborhood,” said Boone, who is white. “They may come to realize that people are people, no matter what race or creed.”

The campus has come a long way since the ‘60s, when a fraternity once held a “slave auction,” recalled Wacira Gethaiga, who attended Chapman in 1967 and is now a professor of Afro-American Studies at Cal State Fullerton.

Still, “the students were not the problems . . . not at Chapman,” Gethaiga recalled. “There were more problems with the law enforcement and the apartment owners who didn’t want us to live there.”

Today’s black students still complain about the campus security, contending that guards often follow black students and demand proof that they live on campus.

Kertes said “sensitivity” classes are planned for security officers, as well as other Chapman staff members.