Duke has not yet found responsible students in Brown printout investigation

No responsible students have been found so far in an investigation into a racist printout hung last month in Brown dorm, wrote Dean of Students John Blackshear and Jeanna McCullers, director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, in a Thursday email to undergraduates.

The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, the Office for Institutional Equity and the Duke University Police Department launched an investigation, reviewing nearby security camera footage and interviewing residents and witnesses, the administrators wrote. The investigation is ongoing, and a bias incident report form was linked in the email to collect information related to the incident.

“If Duke students are found to be responsible for a policy violation related to this incident, the OSCCS will issue sanctions to the responsible student(s),” Blackshear and McCullers wrote. “Any incident that is motivated in whole or part by an individual's race, warrants ‘acceleration’ or elevation of sanctioning.”

The update also notes that the conduct process will be confidential under FERPA but that the OSCSS will report conduct outcomes for the academic year in August.

Administrators last month promised an update on the investigation by April 15 if Duke had not identified a student responsible for the incident. 

This is a developing story and will be updated if new information becomes available. 

Preetha Ramachandran | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator

Preetha Ramachandran is a Trinity senior and diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator for The Chronicle's 118th volume. She was previously senior editor for Volume 117.