Hours after hundreds of UConn students rallied for racial justice, two of their schoolmates were arrested for their alleged roles in a racist incident on campus.
Campus police say that Jarred Karal, 21, of Plainville and Ryan Mucaj, 21, of Granby were identified from a viral videotape that features a racial slur being shouted outside UConn's Charter Oak Apartments on Oct. 11.
They'll both be in court Oct. 30, both facing a charge of "ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race."
New UConn President Tom Katsouleas issued this statement:
“It is supportive of our core values to pursue accountability, through due process, for an egregious assault on our community that has caused considerable harm. I’m grateful for the university’s collective effort in responding to this incident, especially the hard work of the UConn Police Department, which has been investigating the case since it was reported.”
At a large march and rally on campus Monday afternoon, Katsouleas listened to student concerns. In the wake of the Charter Oak incident, student activists had criticized school administrators, saying the university's response to the events of Oct. 11 had been slow, and not strong enough.
UConn Undergraduate Student Government Board member Avolyn Nieves told WTIC 1080 News that the racist incident is far from isolated on the Storrs campus. Nieves says, "Every time I got to parties-- specifically fraternity parties-- they're constantly using the 'n' word. It's just exausting and it's tiring, and the fact that people feel so comfortable to use these words because they know no action will be taken against them."
That alleged inaction by administrators may have shifted with the campus police arrests of Karal and Mucaj.