Racist calls plague African Student Union

Published: Wednesday, March 1, 1995

By Nancy Hsu

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Members of the African Student Union called university police Tuesday afternoon after receiving a number of racially offensive phone calls, students said.

The campus group logged eight harassing calls between 2:40 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. from one man who sounded like he was in his late 40s to early 50s, members said.

"He kept calling and hanging up," said Kamille Maslon, a third-year psychology student and public relations director for the group. "The first time he called, he called me a 'bell-curve nigger.' He hung up and called me back again and said his IQ was higher than mine."

Since he kept repeatedly hanging up, Maslon said she was not able to respond to the caller.

Shauna Robinson, a third-year Afro-American Studies student and the group's program coordinator, said she answered the last call.

"He called me an 'African asshole'," Robinson said. "I just laughed."

Though the caller did not threaten to physically harm members of the group, students said they decided to file a report with university police.

University police received the call shortly after 4 p.m. and sent an officer to the group's Kerckhoff Hall office to take a report.

"(The officer) said if he keeps calling, they can bug the phone," Robinson said. "I don't think it will come to that."

Members of the group said they believe the harassment stems from their active involvement in the campaign to keep affirmative action intact.

For the past few weeks, the African Student Union and members of the undergraduate student government have been meeting to help develop strategies on combating anti-affirmative action ideas, Robinson said.

Tuesday afternoon was the first time Maslon received a harassing phone call, she said. Though a little shaken, she said she will take it in stride as a fact of life.

"It's like my rite of passage," Maslon said. "It's what I'll have to face when I graduate and get into the real world."