AMHERST -- In a letter late Friday to UMass Chancellor Robert Holub, a group of veteran professors calls for the school to examine whether its police force mishandled its February 2008 investigation of student Jason Vassell after a violent on-campus confrontation.

The faculty members are renewing protests, first presented to Holub in the weeks following the arrest of Vassell (below right) after a fight with two visitors at his campus dormitory, that the school failed to safeguard the student's rights.

The strongly worded letter is signed by Ann Ferguson, Louise Antony and Jules Chametzky. Ferguson and Chametzky are emeritus faculty; Antony is a professor of philosophy.

While they praise the resolution of the case late last week in Hampshire Superior Court, the writers say UMass must address what they see as its tarnished role in the matter.
Holub, the writers say, should ask a newly formed Advisory Commission on Race to examine the UMass Police Department's handling of the incident at Vassell's dorm.

"Justice will not be completely restored unless and until the University acknowledges and discharges its responsibilities to create a fair and safe climate for all students," the letter says. "The University must issue a public apology to Jason Vassell, and must take tangible steps toward ensuring that no incident of this kind ever occurs on our campus again."

The letter alleges that the school acted rashly and unfairly in pushing Vassell, who is black, to withdraw from UMass. They say the school pre-judged Vassell's guilt in the case, in which he was charged with two felonies after using a pocketknife to stab two white men who had initiated a fight, while using racial epithets against Vassell.

The authors of the letter were among the 130 faculty members who brought a petition to Holub in the spring of 2008 that raised questions about the UMass response to the incident. At the time, they asked Holub to offer to readmit Vassell. They also asked Holub to state that the school would guarantee all students safety on campus, regardless of their race.

"We find it difficult to believe that a white student in similar circumstances would have been treated in the same way," the letter states.

The writers call on Holub (left) to act now to correct what they see an an imbalance in how the school has treated Vassell."Now that Jason Vassell’s legal case has been resolved and the District Attorney’s office has agreed to drop the charges against him, we ask you to issue a formal apology to Jason Vassell," the letter says.

ONLINE RESOURCES:

-- Coverage of the June 4 legal disposition of the Vassell case.

-- A Gazette editorial, "Commonwealth v. Vassell"