 |
 |
| Lethan Wilks alleges that Howard University officials did not adequately respond
to e-mail threats made against him and said he plans to file a civil lawsuit
against the school. (Photo by Michael Wise)
|
|
|
| | |
|
| |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: JOE CREA COMMENTS
 
continued...
greater than the initial sentence
handed down by a judge if the jury found him guilty of committing the offense
on the basis of hatred of gays and Asians.
In other e-mail messages to Wilks, McMurray wrote, “people like you
make a bad name for Howard [University]” and that “people will
think Howard is producing nothing but homosexuals like yourself and that makes
a bad name for the school.”
Wilks said he plans on filing a civil lawsuit against Howard University. He
has set up a fund to help offset the costs of any legal fees associated with
the suit.
It is unclear if McMurray is still a student at Howard University. Wilks said
he was told by university officials that McMurray was expelled but Wilks said
McMurray has been spotted on campus this fall.
“No one seems to know if McMurray is a student there,” Wilks said. “I
don’t feel Howard ever expelled him.”
The Wilks case recalls another recent incident of an anti-gay attack on campus.
In Sept. 2002, Darryl Payton, a student at Howard University and Luqman Selim,
a gay professor, were physically attacked by members of the school’s
marching band. Payton, who was 18 at the time of the incident, was treated
at the university’s hospital for injuries that included a swollen jaw
and bruises.
Payton said several of the 22 band members had shouted anti-gay epithets,
including “faggot,” at him. Selim, who heard the commotion, tried
to intervene and was punched in the face even after he identified himself as
a faculty member.
BLAGOSAH said that at the time the university’s response was “slow” and
that they failed to adequately address student safety on campus.
University police did not interview Payton until an article appeared in the
Washington Post several days after the incident. BLAGOSAH said that campus
police have a history of mishandling student complaints.
The United States Attorney’s Office declined a District police request
in late Sept. 2002 to prosecute an unidentified member of the University’s
marching band for the alleged anti-gay assault. The warrant was turned down
on the grounds that police failed to obtain sufficient evidence to convince
a judge that “probable cause” existed to justify a warrant.
| 
