The week after a racial slur was left on a Rowan freshman’s door, charges against perpetrator are questioned

Was it a despicable act, but not a hate crime? Does the race of the accused matter? Was a Rowan University freshman targeted with a racial slur because of her race?

Those questions are emerging in the aftermath of an incident at Rowan’s predominantly white campus during the first week of classes. At the center of the case are two messages found on the door of a Black student that said: “I hate N-word.”

“The intent was there,” said Stanley King, a Woodbury civil rights attorney. “It was to intimidate her or other Black people.”

The victim initially removed the message that was placed on decorations on her door at Holly Pointe Commons, a sprawling building that mostly houses freshmen. After discovering another message on the door, she reported the incident to campus police.

A few days later, Rowan police identified three suspects in connection with the incident: Alston Willis, 19, of Wenonah, was charged with harassment, a disorderly offense. Danny D’Agustino, 20, of Deptford, and Dominic R. Hull, 18, of Mullica Hill, were given a trespassing warning.

All three were banned from the campus for two years and could face criminal trespassing charges if they return, the university said. None are Rowan students. Rowan has said it identified them from surveillance footage.

The name of the student who allowed the outsiders to enter the dorm was not released. Rowan said it would take internal disciplinary action but provided no specifics.

Rowan police charged Willis, who “self-identified as Black, with a lesser offense and not a bias intimidation crime because detectives believed that Willis was unaware of the victim’s race, said university spokesman Joe Cardona. Yet some questioned why Willis would use such language if he didn’t know her race, and whether the lesser charge was influenced by the fact that he was Black.

“Do we give him a pass because he’s Black?” said Loretta Winters, president of the Southern Gloucester County chapter of the NAACP. “It’s a violation of being stupid. It’s just not acceptable.”

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The entire matter is under review by acting Gloucester County Prosecutor Christine Hoffman, said spokesman Tom Gilbert.

Willis did not respond to a message seeking comment. He was given a summons and released. He faces a Municipal Court hearing in Glassboro on Oct. 20. His mother, Lauren, said the family was meeting with an attorney next week.

“The whole situation is heartbreaking,” Lauren Willis wrote in a message.

The incident has sparked concern and outrage at Rowan, where Black students comprise about 10% of the more than 19,000 student population. The Black Student Union plans to hold a town hall meeting at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Bunce Hall.

“It’s unfortunate, considering in this day and age we’re still having racial issues,” said Ahnyah Pickney, 24, of Sicklerville, a senior journalism major. “It’s scary.”

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Michael Lieberman, senior policy counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said cases like this are considered a hate crime if victims are intentionally selected because of their race.

And some civil rights experts believe a more serious charge of bias intimidation was warranted because the victim belongs to a protected class under federal hate crime law. The law makes it a crime to commit acts that are motivated by an offender’s bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.

Frank Pezzella, an associate professor of criminal justice at John Jay College in New York who specializes in hate-crime research, said the messages on the Rowan dorm room had the intended effect to intimidate. The victim has been afraid to walk around the campus unless escorted by her siblings, her family members say. Rowan said counseling has been offered.

“It wasn’t random,” Pezzella said.

Cardona could not provide details on how detectives determined that Willis was unaware of the victim’s race. The two others who were with him are white.

Rowan denied a request from The Inquirer under the state Open Public Rights Act seeking the police reports, citing an ongoing investigation by the county prosecutor.

The victim is the only Black student in a dorm pod that houses 42 students, Cardona said. Built in 2016, the $140 million Holly Pointe complex houses about 1,400 students and is the largest and newest student residence on campus.

In a message to the campus a day after the slur was found, Rowan president Ali A. Houshmand said racism would not be tolerated and encouraged students and staff to report discrimination and harassment.

“Everyone deserves to feel welcome and safe on all of our campuses,” he wrote.