SUNY Wrestler Involved in Another Assault
Jan. 30, 2001  (AP) Sidney, N.Y. 

The last defendant of three who beat and left a Korean American student with a fractured skull, hemorrhaging and a concussion, pleaded not guilty  on August 27 to a misdemeanor third-degree assault charge.  The trial for 18 year old Chat Scott is scheduled for the fall 2000.  The State University at Binghamton, NY has suspended him until 2002 for his part in the February 27 campus attack on John E. Lee and three other Asian-American students.

Initially all three wrestlers faced charges of second-degree gang assault, a felony, which carried a minimum of three years imprisonment.

But Nicholas Richetti, 19, served only eight weekends in jail with probation required for a number of years after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of attempted second-degree assault.  In addition, the judge ordered him to pay half of Lee's medical expenses of $2,600.

Christopher Taylor, 20, received 50 hours of community service and a $250 fine after pleading to disorderly conduct.  

The University expelled Richetti and dropped all charges against Taylor, allowing him to return to school.

Lee, 19, suffered the most serious injuries of the four Asian American students attacked.  He expressed his dissatisfaction with the reduced sentences.  "I could've died and they're walking the streets right now," says Lee.  "Maybe they could've kicked my head one more time, and then who knows."

Now a sophomore, Lee says he knows students who got into fights and ended up doing more time than his assailants.  "Sixteen days in jail, I don't see that being justice," he said.

In June, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), along with National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium staff, met with the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department to recommend a federal probe into the case.  The Justice Department is waiting to make its decision depending on the outcome of the state's final case against Scott.

AALDEF represents John E. Lee, Rexford Hong, another Korean American student, and a Chinese American student who wishes to remain anonymous.

May 18, 2000 AsianWeek at http://www.asianweek.com/2000_05_18/news_suny.html 

Student Indicted for Attack Against APIs
But charges of third-degree assault are not severe enough,
say some advocates
By Heather Harlan

A grand jury in Broome County, N.Y., indicted a SUNY Binghamton
student for third-degree assault stemming from an alleged bias attack
against four Asian American students.

Chad Scott, allegedly shouted racial slurs while participating in an attack that left one of the students, John Lee, with a skull fracture, hemorrhaging and a cerebral concussion. The other Asian American students suffered minor injuries.

Charges against two other studentsChristopher Taylor and Nicholas
Richettiwho allegedly also took part in the Feb. 27 attack, are still
pending before the grand jury.

The Broome County District Attorney, Gerald F. Mollen, initially brought felony charges of second-degree gang assault against Scott, but the grand jury instead chose to recommend charges of third-degree assault, a lesser misdemeanor which carries a maximum sentence of one year.

All three students are white and members of the schools wrestling team.

On May 1st, the university expelled Richetti and suspended Scott for two years, following a series of administrative hearings. Disciplinary charges against Taylor were dropped.

Sin Yen Ling, a lawyer with the Asian American Legal Defense and
Education Fund, who is representing the alleged victims, said she was
disappointed that the grand jury chose not to indict Scott on more serious charges. Hate crimes are a serious matter for all New Yorkers, and the criminal justice system must be accountable to victims of racially-motivated attacks, she said.

In the very early morning hours of February 27th, 2000, four Asians were assaulted by three Caucasian Binghamton University (SUNY) wrestling team members outside Onondaga Hall in College in the Woods dormitory community.

As reported in the Press and Sun-Bulletin, three Binghamton University undergraduates, Chad W. Schott, Nicholas W. Richetti, and Christopher M. Taylor are all facing prison time and have been charged with second degree gang assault, a felony, for allegedly attacking four Asian students.

Most seriously injured was John E. Lee, who suffered a fractured skull. The newspaper reports that the Asian students were taunted with racial slurs, and that the three students who have been charged, all members of the BU Wrestling Team, have been suspended from the university.

Though this is clearly a race issue, the Binghamton administration and student newspaper (Pipe Dream) have done absolutely nothing and have said nothing in regard to this matter being racial. Not one person representing the university bothered to visit the hospitalized victim, and not one person has condoned the heinous acts of the wrestlers. Now we all know politics and money rule the world. And everyone knows this school is investing an overabundance of funds into the athletic program. An incident such as what happened two weekends ago of course will deter more money from the state government and benefactors. Perhaps this is the reason why this is so "hush hush."

Or maybe the administration believes nothing will come out of this since Asian Americans have been known to be "passive" and "quiet" when it comes to matters of justice and politics. But we cannot condone this type of behavior, and we cannot turn the page on this. The attack could have happened to anyone. It is time now to do something about this, and time to make ourselves known that we do not and will not tolerate injustice to our race, or to any human being. Let us not shy away from this and be perceived to be week and tolerant of abuses. JUSTICE must be served! Make yourself be heard. This is something that impacts you and everyone else.

DO NOT ALLOW OTHERS TO TREAD ON YOU.

Also, please let the administration at Binghamton know that this sort of behavior will not be condoned, by e-mailing them.

President Lois DeFleur:ldefleur@binghamton.edu

VP for Student Affairs Rodger Summers: rsummers@binghamton.edu

Asst. VP/Student Life, Student Affairs Lloyd Howe: lhowe@binghamton.edu

Assoc. VP & Dean for Student Affairs David Anderson: anderson@binghamton.edu

Assoc. VP for University Relations John Hachtel: jhachtel@binghamton.edu

Director for Affirmative Action Francine Montemurro: monte@binghamton.edu

Provost/VP for Academic Affairs Mary Ann Swain: mswain@binghamton.edu

If you would rather mail the SUNY-Binghamton administration, all SUNY-Binghamton persons above share the same address. just add title and name and the address supplied below.

Cooper Administration Building
P.O. Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000

PERSONAL BACKGROUND ON THE STUDENT WHO WAS ASSAULTED:

John E. Lee is a freshman from NYC whose parents work in laundry business. He has one one older brother. All four are naturalized U.S. citizens (some of you asked about this for strategy reasons). John was assaulted in a racial incident by three white students 2/27 (Nicholas W. Richetti, Chad Scott and Christopher Taylor), on campus. He was kicked in the head and beaten. He was sent to the hospital with fractured skull and internal bleeding.

Now, John is recovering. He was worried about grades and classes and early released himself from the hospital. Our concerns are that a fractured skull may result in brain seizures or side effects yet to be seen in the future.

He has stated that he wishes to see the assailants brought to justice. He will be talking with AALDEF shortly. We ask that you not try to contact John at this time. Due to legal procedures, John is not allowed to talk to general public at this time.

LETTER FROM PRESIDENT LOIS DEFLEUR:

*Note: The following letter from President DeFleur to the University Community was released on Friday, March 10. The incident it mentions took place in the very early morning hours of February 27, outside

Onondaga Hall in College in the Woods dormitory community. As reported in the Press and Sun-Bulletin, three Binghamton University undergraduates, Chad W. Schott, Nicholas W. Richetti, and Christopher M. Taylor have been charged with second degree gang assault, a felony, for allegedly attacking four Asian students. Most seriously injured was John E. Lee, who suffered a fractured

skull. The newspaper reports that the Asian students were taunted with racial slurs, and that the three students who have been charged, all members of the BU Wrestling Team, have been suspended from the university.

State University of New York
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Binghamton, New York
March 9, 2000

To the University Community:

The recent incident of a violent assault directed toward Binghamton University students shocks and saddens all of us. As President, I want to convey my great concern to the victims of this violence, and to

state publicly that violence and bigotry have no place on our campus. We will not tolerate behavior that threatens or violates the safety and security of our students, faculty or staff. I want to reiterate clearly what I have said in the past - Binghamton University will mobilize its resources to protect and assist our students and to ensure a safe and secure campus.

From the beginning of this incident, Binghamton administrators have been providing assistance to the victims and others affected. The office of student affairs has been working with them from the moment the incident was reported to ensure their immediate and long-term needs were addressed.

The following day, when sufficient information was available, Student Affairs initiated the student judicial process as it related to those involved. The University Police are working in concert with external

law enforcement agencies to ensure there is no compromise of the ability to bring criminal charges where necessary. The University believes matters such as these must be dealt with firmly and we will always take strong and immediate action, up to and including removing students from campus, in

order to provide a safe campus environment. In this case, both criminal and student judicial processes are currently underway.

Since the allegations implicate members of the wrestling team, I have asked the University's athletic director to review the goals and objectives of the wrestling program. Through this review, we want to ensure that the athletes who will represent Binghamton as members of the team are excellent scholars and good University citizens.

We must all continue to work together to oppose disrespect, insensitivity and violence on our campus. The University has, in the recent past,sponsored multiple diversity training sessions and events for faculty, staff and students and we will continue to provide these educational opportunities for all members of our community. Those who work and study on this campus have a deep appreciation and understanding of diversity's rich contribution to achieving our goals. I affirm our commitment to an inclusive community where all people will feel safe, welcome, and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Lois B. DeFleur, President

COMMENTARY BY RIZALENE ZABALA, CO-ACADEMIC VP OF ASU:

Two weeks after the Hate Crime Assault at SUNY-Binghamton, the Administration responds. Why did it take the University TWO WEEKS to respond or make any sort of statement about this crime? The student body had a right to know. We deserve to know! This hesitation in response demonstrates their

lack of concern for the student body and the victim. A serious and hateful crime was committed! The act was not a mere punch in the face, it was a FRACTURED SKULL! The student body deserves to be reassured as quickly as possible that crimes such as these are not tolerated on this campus!

Honestly, if it were another student of a different ethnic background the administration would have acted quickly. It took the Administration two weeks to say anything. This cannot be tolerated. How can the

students of SUNY Binghamton especially the Asian/Asian American students continue feeling safe on this campus with the realization that the University took its' time to respond publicly about this situation. Some students on this campus did not know that this incident occurred. Something is wrong.

In addition the points made in this letter from the President do not address the seriousness of the crime in relation the administrations' plan of action. As students we simply want justice and the knowledge that the University will take a more proactive stance. We do not want to single out the wrestling team, what we do want is to make sure that students can feel safe in the fact that the University will act immediately on a student's behalf if a crime such as this should ever occur again. It could have happened to any one of us. Workshops on diversity are not enough!

What about a more diverse counseling program. In this case the inclusion of an Asian/Asian American counselor to the University Staff. The Administration did not make a strong enough attempt to reach out to the victim. The victim checked himself out of the hospital early because he did not want to fall behind in his studies. No one was initially there to inform him of his rights (incomplete, etc.) Even if there was a language barrier between the parents and the administration, the administration should have made more

than an attempt to find a translator to communicate to the victim his rights. An Asian American Counselor would have been trained in this situation to be able to understand the victim's situation and help the victim out. This is the more proactive stand the University should have made. Mere diversity workshops do not cut it!

Rizalene Zabala

UPDATE:

There was an Open Forum Organizational Meeting for faculty and students to Respond to Increases Racial Harassment and Assault on the SUNY-Binghamton Campus March 14, 2000 presented by the Asian Student Union.

There were over 300 in attendance who were Asian, Black, Latino, white, Muslim, and faculty of color in the SUNY-Binghamton Student Union. Also included a guest speaker from the Asian American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (AALDEF) in NYC. AALDEF will be taking over the case concerning the victim.

The following day the Asian Student Union organized a Rally March 14, 2000. There were over 300 persons of all colors and religions in solidarity against Hate Crimes in general. Other student organizations made statements concerning the recent rise in Racial Harassment and Assault at

SUNY-Binghamton. Later, students marched around campus and held a sit-in at the Cooper Administration Building. Six student leaders had a meeting with the President,VP for Student Affairs, Assist. VP for Student Life, Assoc. VP and Dean of Students, and Assoc. VP for University Relations.

The administration, named above gave a terrible excuse saying that their lawyers advised them not to make a statement until later. We also found out that they did not contact the parents (hospital told them that they contacted the>parents and they would arrive in a few hours) and did not even know if the parents arrived to Binghamton, NY at all. The victim (John) was not contacted by the administration on his rights as a victim in the campus community. He was never informed of obtaining incompletes in his courses to stay in the hospital (he thought he would fail so that is why he returned to class in two days) and never informed about taking action against his assaulters. John is a freshman transfer for the Spring semester, who would not know about these things w/o being specifically informed about them.

Our demands were heard in the meeting, but there will be more meetings further in the future. The administration, afraid of the Asian Student Union's actions, have now gone to the means of possibly tapping our campus phone calls and reading/deleting our campus email services.

ASU STATEMENT GIVEN AT THE OPEN FORUM AND RALLY MARCH 14TH & 15TH

"In light of the CIW Incident that occurred Sunday morning February 27, 2000 where Asian American students were both verbally and physically assaulted, ASU and all its subgroups (KASA, BUJA, CASU, PAL, TASC and VSA) are taking a strong position to speak out about and against hate crimes that go unnoticed on our campus. When a fractured skull or serious personal injuries are involved, we cannot remain silent, especially when our campus administration does not take immediate action to attend to the needs of the students injured.

"However, this is only one instance committed against Asian/Asian Americans in America and on college campuses. We have historically been perceived as either the "yellow peril" (in times of economic crises) or the "model minority" when our government needs a representation of the "American Dream."

Either roles have caste us as "outsiders" of the American Society. In other words, we are the "aliens," the immigrants, the non-assimilable. This is all too obvious for us as we remember the internment of the Japanese Americans when our citizenship rights to liberty and justice were stripped away. This is evermore-obvious when racial slurs like "Go back home Chink" are spat upon us regardless of our ethnic specificity.

"But, perhaps, these racial remarks/insults and hate crimes inflicted upon us are unrelated to questions of our loyalty to the United States of America, rather, they are founded upon the idea or belief that Asian/Asian Americans are a submissive, quiet and non-confrontational homogeneous group of people. Well then, let us be a testament that all the different Asian/Asian American groups on this campus will no longer tolerate any form of neither racism nor racial violence committed against us! We are also not alone in taking this position against hate crimes on our campus. We stand in solidarity with all the ICA Committee organizations (ASO, BSU, CSA, HaSA, IISU, LASU, Hillel/JSU, MSA, RPU, Womyn's Center and Thurgood Marshall) for a safe campus for learning!"

ASU DEMANDS

1. The ASU demands an immediate apology from the Administration for the tardiness of its response. Waiting almost two weeks to release any sort of reaction to the attack signals great ineffectiveness. Releasing a statement that condemns student violence whether it is race related or not does jeopardize the case, nor does it take almost two weeks to produce. The Administration failed to act when the student body desperately needed assurance of their personal safety.

2. The ASU demands the immediate expulsion of the attackers in this incident. In regards to this particular case, we insist upon the immediate expulsion of Nicholas Richetti and Chad Scott. Richetti's involvement in another assault earlier that night, and Scott's involvement in a prior incident at Denny's indicate to ASU that their behavior is not just an isolated incident, but rather, one event in a pattern of violence. Protecting the student body requires that these suspects be permanently removed from campus.

3. The ASU demands the hiring of 2 full time counselors trained in Asian American Affairs. Asian students comprise of more than 20 percent of campus and we need someone whose knowledge of the Asian/Asian-American culture can assist in times of trauma and doubt. Especially in light of the recent incidents, students need trained professionals with whom they can discuss their concerns and fears.

4. The ASU demands that the Administration produce a specific plan listing what they have done so far to help the victim, and what they will continue to do to see that injustice is done in this case. ASU wishes to be heavily involved in these matters which concern the Asian/Asian-American community.   Whether it is assisting in the hiring of new staff or discussing the plan of action for the assault, ASU needs to be involved so as to ensure that actions taken will happen quickly and effectively.

5. The ASU demands an increase in those trained to educate students about Asian and Asian American culture. In Dr. Sommers' letter to the ASU, he writes, "We will continue to work expediently to bring closure to this incident." ASU firmly believes that closure to this incident will not occur simply with token actions taken to promote diversity. Closure will only occur when the student body can be sure that incidents such as the one that occurred on February 27, 2000 will never happen again. Educators specializing in Asian and Asian-American Affairs, hired with the approval of ASU, are essential if the University wishes to promote and sustain its reputation as a diverse institution.

6. The ASU demands that the athletic department and faculty release a statement condemning the incident at CIW. We believe that the CIW incident does not reflect in any way the student body, the wrestling team or athletics at Binghamton University. ASU requests that these departments reassure us in this belief.

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Asian Student Union

"Silence is Oppression"

Celebrating Years of Collaboration, Diversity and Political Activism

SUNY-Binghamton
P.O. Box 2000
Binghamton, NY 13902-2000
Phone: (607) 777-4847 (HUGS)
Website: www.sa.binghamton.edu/~asu 
Fax: (607) 777-6501 Attn:
ASU Email: asu@sa.binghamton.edu

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