Multiple Hofstra Students Allege a Public Safety Officer Used Racial Slurs
BY: SARAH EMILY BAUM AND LEAH CHIPPINO
(MAY 11, 2021) — Several Hofstra students, including a protest monitor for the ACLU, allege that a non-Black Public Safety officer referred to students as “my n----s” on multiple occasions. The university declined to comment on the allegations, but at least one student, senior Imani Thompson, says she met with administrators over the concerns, and who told her they are investigating.
On the night of Sunday, April 4, Thompson was waiting for the night shuttle outside of Breslin Hall when she claims a Public Safety officer approached her and made note of her mask. The design read “Dissent is Patriotic” and donned the ACLU logo. Thompson then identified herself as a campus representative and protest monitor with the ACLU, although she was not on-the-clock at the time of the interaction.
Thompson says the officer then denounced mask-wearing, recommended she listen to Black conservative pundit Candace Owens and remarked that he had grown up in the “projects”—where he allegedly said he was “allowed” to call people like her “my n----s.”
At this point, Thompson began recording the interaction on her phone. She provided The Clocktower a copy of the audio. Although did not include the above comments, as it began midway through the conversation, the recording did capture a politically-charged exchange between the two and ended with the officer identifying himself by name.
“Casual racism is regular,” Thompson told The Clocktower. “That’s why I didn’t bother to report it for so long.”
Thompson, the former Vice President of Collegiate Women of Color and a Center for Civic Engagement Fellow at Hofstra, subsequently reported the incident to Dean of Students Gabrielle St. Legér. In the following weeks, Thompson says she also met with Director of Public Safety Karen O’Callaghan and a representative from the Office of Human Resources, who told her the university is investigating the incident.
Imani Thompson, on the right, at a protest with the co-founder of activist organization Code Pink. Photos courtesy of Imani Thompson.
A spokesperson for the university declined to confirm or deny this. “We do not discuss individual disciplinary matters,” the spokesperson told The Clocktower. They also refused to further comment on the employment status of the officer involved, such as whether he was still actively patrolling campus grounds.
In March of 2020, The Hofstra Chronicle, published a video of a Public Safety Officer in a physical altercation with a student. In that case, they disclosed to the student and mainstream press that the officer was suspended pending investigation in real time. Upon follow up, the university would not clarify what differences in circumstance, if any, warranted a different standard of disclosure in this incident.
Meanwhile, Dean St. Legér referred the Clocktower to the university’s statement when reached for comment. Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Cornell Craig declined to comment on a specific case, citing university policy, but said the university “does take matters of identity and discrimination seriously, and it is important to the educational community that we create and support a healthy environment and culture where each person within our community can thrive.”
Hofstra junior Caria Reynolds and her girlfriend, sophomore Kendyll Ferguson, allege they had a similar interaction with the same officer during the Fall 2021 semester. When provided a recording of Thompson’s interaction, Reynolds and Ferguson confirmed that it sounded like the same individual. Reynolds tells The Clocktower they were waiting for the night shuttle by Breslin when a Public Safety officer approached them to ask if they were students. Unsolicited, the officer asked who they were voting for. When Reynolds expressed support for President Joe Biden, she alleges he went on rant about how she should listen to Candace Owens and that he used the n-word repeatedly. According to Reynolds, the officer said that “n----s don’t know what’s real these days.” Ferguson confirmed this account of events and provided The Clocktower with a voice memo she had sent to the friend just after the encounter, in which she described the incident and corroborated Reynold’s narrative.
“He was just so comfortable using the n-word with me,” Reynolds said. “Even on just a professional level, it was wrong. Even my coaches, who are Black, don’t use that kind of language with me and my teammates,” said Reynolds, who is a Division I Women’s Basketball player for the university. (She asked The Clocktower to emphasize that she is being quoted on a personal level, and is not speaking on behalf of or in affiliation with Hofstra Athletics for this piece.)
Neither Reynolds nor Ferguson reported the issue to Public Safety at the time. A spokesperson for the university noted that students who feel they experienced discriminatory behavior can file a complaint here.
“The Dean of Students’ office, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and other administrative leaders have been working with the student group —Black Leaders Advocating for Change (BLAC)—on several initiatives, including a new Living, Learning Community (LLC),” the spokesperson said. “They meet regularly and will continue to do so as part of that ongoing dialogue and work.” The coalition, which posted its demands on Instagram, is also advocating for mandatory race and racism education, more diverse faculty and more proactive administrative responses to claims of incidents of racial bias.
Senior organizer from BLAC, Brittney Johnson, said the group has made gains with these meetings on some fronts, but on others, they’ve felt shorted. Johnson told The Clocktower they were only able to secure one meeting with O’Callaghan back in November, wherein they expressed a desire to help craft racial diversity training for Public Safety officers. They’ve had email correspondence since, according to Johnson, but have not been able to secure another meeting with O’Callaghan or other leaders in the department. They also weren’t included in any training that has happened since they put forth their request. “I feel like it won’t happen,” said Johnson. “We keep getting pushed aside. It feels like Public Safety isn’t listening to us.”
Johnson added BLAC hopes to see greater pushes for transparency in the disciplinary process for officers, more constructive dialogue between the department and students of color and greater strides in accountability for officers who may have engaged in misconduct. “We want to be heard,” she said.
As for Thompson, she added that it was not her first racist encounter with the department. In 2017, Thompson says she witnessed a white Public Safety officer approach a Hispanic Compass dining worker and say “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you got deported.” When another Compass worker came to the colleague’s defense, the officer allegedly called the worker a “loud mouth.” The Clocktower identified and tracked down both Compass workers, who confirmed Thompson’s telling of the incident but requested anonymity, fearing for the safety of their jobs. Neither Thompson nor the Compass workers reported the racist comments to a higher authority, such as management of the Office of Human Resources.
“Everyone I worked with told me to report it,” on Compass worked told The Clocktower. “But I didn’t want to create problems and I didn’t even know how to do that.”
Said the other: “Who would even listen to me?”
These reports emerge just weeks after the university announced that O’Callaghan would be stepping down from the role of Director to make way for Geraldine Hart, who currently serves as the police commissioner for Suffolk County. As per an email to students, Hart will be hosting a welcome webinar to address the community and take questions. The event will take place on May 12 during common hour.
