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<a href="http://wso.williams.edu/wiki/index.php/Willipedia:Policies#Naming_Names>wiki policy edit</a>
[[Category:History]]
In spring 2004, a Professor Aida Laleian of Art used the word "nigger" in an Art a Department meeting, touching off much campus discussion and several all-campus emails.
The incident was first drawn to students' attention by an email from President [[Morton Owen Schapiro]], containing a preface announcing the beginning of what would be called the [[Diversity Initiative]]s, and in which he delivered a communication from then Acting Dean of Faculty, [[Bill Lenhart]]. Lenhart's text stated that a professor had
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Lenhart stated that he had investigated the incident and imposed sanctions on the offending professor, whose identity was announced to the community in an email from Lenhart on the 23rd. He announced then as well that a discrimination grievance had been filed (apparently by studio art professor Laylah Ali '90, who was present at the meeting and is African-American). On November 1st, the public portion of the proceedings were officially concluded in two emails from Laleianthe offender, one to Ali her offended colleague and one to the community at large.
The event generated a high volume of public discussion of the incident and more generally of issues of tolerance and diversity at Williams. The Committee on Community and Diversity, the Multicultural Center, and the office of Human Resources were formally asked by Schapiro to contribute guidance to wise development from the matter. Informally, discussion was widespread among students at the event's outset, most publicly in ''[[Record|The Record]]'', on [http://wso.williams.edu/blogs WSO blogs] and [http://www.ephblog.com Ephblog].
