Students Talk After Racial Clash : Forum: In wake of fight between blacks and whites at Chapman University, diversity studies urged. Harassment, alcohol use broached.

Less than a week after a fight between black and white students that stirred racial tension on campus, more than 100 Chapman University students, teachers and parents gathered Thursday to discuss racism and to call for mandatory diversity studies.

Required studies about race relations, some of them said, would help students better cope with today’s diverse population.

“Diversity is not just a social issue,” said Krystel Edmonds, president of the Black Student Union. “It’s an educational process . . . and it needs to be mandated.”

Administrators are considering making diversity studies a requirement for graduation, Dean of Students Joe Kertes said.

During the 90-minute forum, students touched on a variety of topics, ranging from allegations that campus security officers have harassed blacks to a discussion that alcohol may have contributed to the fight.

The meeting was organized by the Black Student Union and the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, whose members were involved in the fracas early Saturday morning.

Students attributed the meeting’s large turnout to the fight and the ensuing racial tension on campus. Similar panels held in the past have attracted only a handful of students.

Two black students, Marc Hodges and Azziem Ali, said they were walking by Morlan Residence Hall about 1 a.m. Saturday. A party was going on.

One white party guest made a racial remark to Hodges and Ali. Words were exchanged, and the argument escalated into a brawl in which as many as 20 students were involved, according to witnesses.

Rules regarding on-campus use of alcohol may be tightened, Kertes said. Alcohol now may be consumed by students over 21 in the residence halls.

Responding to one student’s assertion that racism doesn’t touch whites, Edmonds said: “Racism doesn’t affect just the black people on campus. It affects everybody. Racism affects you whether you know it or not. . . . A group of white students (in the fight) was branded as racists. Racism affects them as well.”

One student called for the hiring of more minority instructors. Some called on Chapman administrators to take a more active role.

A good portion of the meeting was devoted to student complaints about the Campus Safety Department. Officers, the black students said, often follow them and demand proof that they live on campus. Black visitors and parents are often stopped by the officers, the students said.

Brett Clark, a Chapman vice president who oversees the security department, said his office has received no formal complaints from students. He urged them to file reports; without them, the university cannot investigate.

The university, however, plans to conduct sensitivity training for the officers.