A day after administrators publicized information regarding a hate crime in Ruggles Hall, students are uniting in an effort to condemn the incident and address a perceived atmosphere of continued racial tension on campus.
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Matthew Brown, CC ’07, and Stephen Searles, SEAS ’08, were taken into custody on Friday afternoon around 4 p.m. by the New York Police Department and were charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime, a Class E felony.
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Searles’ record as a promising swimmer and his accomplishments at Columbia stand in stark contrast to his current status as an accused felon who faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted. The high school all-American swimmer was recruited by Columbia last year and served as class representative to the Engineering Student Council his first year. He was also a finalist for the “Balanced Man Award” last year, a prize awarded by the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity to students seen as “exploring and excelling in different facets of life.”
“Steve is beyond tolerant. He just loves everybody,” said a floormate on the third floor of McBain Hall who declined to be identified. He also emphasized that Searles is not a racist person.
Several other residents of McBain 3 said Searles had acted belligerently in the past after consuming alcohol and added that they had heard he was drunk on Friday night.
"Drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son."
- Dean Wormser ("Animal House")
