Dive Brief:
- Student leaders say San Jose State University has not listened to their concerns after the arrest of four students charged with hate crimes against a black roommate.
- The school's president, Mohammad Qayoumi, has promised an investigation and has said the findings would be public.
- Qayoumi sent an email to the school that read, in part: "By failing to recognize the meaning of a Confederate flag, intervene earlier to stop the abuse, or impose sanctions as soon as the gravity of the behavior became clear, we failed him. I failed him."
Dive Insight:
The alleged abuse involved the white roommates of a black student displaying a Confederate flag in the room and collaring him with a bicycle lock. The NAACP has called for felony charges instead of misdemeanors against the freshmen.