College to Offer Reward for Hate Crime Information

The Saddleback College student government voted Thursday to offer a $3,000 reward for information regarding campus hate crimes, following the second incident in two months involving an African-American student.

In other action Thursday, the college’s acting president, Calvin L. Nelson, distributed a one-page letter to students, faculty and staff, informing them that “another African-American Saddleback College student has been the victim of an on-campus, racially motivated hate crime in the form of a threatening note” placed on her car Monday.

Nelson said that he had spoken with Sheriff Brad Gates and Assistant Sheriff Dennis LaDucer, the county’s officer in charge of racial hate crimes.

“Our college community is built on the idea of mutual acceptance and appreciation for one another’s cultural and ethnic differences,” Nelson wrote. “The safety and security of our students and staff are of the utmost concern. Saddleback College and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will make every effort to apprehend and support the conviction of anyone engaging in hate-crime activity at the college.”

In the earlier incident, flyers attacking black candidates for homecoming king and queen were placed in mailboxes.

Nelson said that both incidents have become the focus of a criminal investigation.

“Campus safety and security officers are on heightened alert for any suspicious activity,” he said in his letter, which asked “the entire campus to report any and all activity of suspicious nature.”

In addition to the criminal investigation and campus vigilance, Nelson said that the Saddleback Community College District has signed a contract with the Orange County Human Relations Commission to create an on-campus program to heighten racial and ethnic sensitivity.