The and the juvenile court system have begun their investigation of an alleged anti-gay hate crime that occurred on campus.
An undergraduate student and a recent graduate of the Divinity School, both male, alleged that their affectionate behavior drew anti-gay comments and slurs from another undergraduate and a non-student guest as they ordered food from the Carmichael Towers West Quiznos on Sept. 9 around 10:45 p.m.
The Vanderbilt Hustler will not release the victims’ names for their protection, and authorities will not release the name of the 17-year-old student suspect.
The recent graduate walked over to the suspects and asked if there was a problem, according to the incident report.
The suspects became argumentative and told the alumnus to “get out of (their) face,” said the report, obtained Saturday from the Metro Nashville Police Department Central Records Division.
When the couple left Towers West they were accosted by the two suspects in what “appeared to be a premeditated, unprovoked attack,” said Mark Bandas.
The police report narrative does not mention the anti-gay language used in Quiznos, but it does indicate suspicion of a hate crime.
Surveillance images, which will not be released by the university in order to protect the victims, captured the entire attack and led to the identification of the undergraduate suspect.
According to the VUPD report, “The suspects began to strike (the graduate) in the head with their fists. The suspects struck (him) four or five times.”
The victim suffered minor swelling to the left cheek and lip, according to the report.
The attack, an “isolated and anomalous incident,” was “beyond disappointing,” Bandas said.
“Vanderbilt has no tolerance for intolerance,” he said. “An assault like this one is an attack on the fundamental norms and values that constitute our community.”
But some students, including the graduate victim, said though they were surprised by the violence, the intolerance did not surprise them.
“I’m disappointed to say that I wasn’t terribly surprised because I know that there are several students on our campus who do not understand GLBT issues,” said Vanderbilt Student Government President . “And because of the views and ideas they were raised with, it just wasn’t a priority to understand them, and they’ve never really been challenged in their views.”
But, despite its top-20 position on the 2006 Princeton Review “Alternative Lifestyles Not an Alternative” list, the university is not homophobic on the whole, said Lambda President Klint Peebles.
“There is definitely a huge sector of individuals and a lot of people that do exhibit homophobic tendencies and actions, but to a certain extent, any institution of higher education, no matter how liberal the region, will include these individuals,” Peebles said. “Homophobia is, at this point in our history, an internal thing, embedded in each individual’s thought process, belief system, culture and heritage. People have to change from within.”
The assaulted victim has pressed charges, and the student suspect, because of his age, was served a juvenile misdemeanor citation with a court date for assault. The over-18, non-student suspect was charged with assault and issued an arrest warrant, Bandas said.
The non-student suspect has not been apprehended and may have fled the state.
The student suspect will face university disciplinary charges and punishments from reprimand up to and including expulsion, Bandas said.
“As far as I know, the attacker will not escape unscathed,” Peebles said. “He will be punished no matter what because it needs to happen. This can’t be tolerated.”
The outcome of the university justice system will not be made public, though Bandas said the university “takes this incident seriously.”
“The student will have to face the consequences of his actions,” he said, adding, “Those who pose a threat to the community are more likely to be removed from it.”
—Sara Gast contributed reporting to this article.
