Police say charges have been filed against an individual for hanging a racially charged flier in Shaw Hall last month.
The suspect is being charged with misdemeanor harassment, which carries up to a 90-day jail sentence, MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap said.
The incident is not being treated as ethnic intimidation, which is a felony, because the flier wasn't aimed at a specific individual and didn't threaten anyone with violence.
The derogatory flier, written partly in German, featured a picture of a naked pregnant woman and invited students to a "White Caucus" event. It was found by a mentor conducting rounds on Jan. 11 and listed Shaw Hall Black Caucus executive board members' phone numbers as contact information.
The text translates to "The eighth annual 2003 International Sodomy Performance" and "An orgasmic night from the heathen intercourse," according to German Professor Karin Wurst.
Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said he was unaware of charges filed because misdemeanors normally aren't brought to his attention.
"The mere printing of a flier, regardless of how vile and disgusting the wording may be, would not violate criminal statute of ethnic intimidation," he said.
Shaw Hall Complex Director Tracy Bobertz filed a police report after meeting with university and Shaw Hall officials the week of the incident.
MSU won't tolerate the actions, university spokesman Terry Denbow said.
"Racial slurs always deserve our condemnation," he said.
Despite the charge, the people responsible need to learn from this experience, Black Student Alliance President Argentina Lewis said.
"He or she needs to go to Shaw Hall and apologize for terrorizing (with) the original flier," she said. Lewis also said the student should attend caucus meetings to understand what a caucus does.
Last week, racial slurs were found on the door of psychology senior Ebony White's dorm room in Hubbard Hall. White, a racial ethnic student aide, found several words on her door, including racially insensitive language and the letters "nga."
Staff writer Chrystal Griffin contributed to this report.
