The stabbing of a visiting black Union College student allegedly by a white Cornell student on West Campus, says Cornell President Hunter R. Rawlings, "has had a galvanizing effect on all of us. ... This is an incident that makes us all think seriously about violence in our midst and racial issues in our society."

Rawlings and other officials were responding to questions and concerns about the Feb. 18 incident at a community forum Feb. 28. About 120 students, faculty, staff and community members crowded into the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room for the forum.

Nathan Poffenbarger, ILR '08, 20, of Woodsboro, Md., has been charged with second-degree assault, a Class D felony. He also has been temporarily suspended from Cornell, pending a full hearing on the merits of the case in the campus judicial system, and he has been barred from the campus. The victim, Charles Holiday, 22, of Brooklyn, needs to recover more fully before the hearing, according to Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson.

Responding to speculation that the assault was race related, Wilkinson said, "There are a million stories going around. I can only caution you, keep an open mind."

She said that depending on the evidence gathered during the investigation, the case could go to the grand jury as a hate crime.

At a Feb. 27 afternoon rally on Ho Plaza, organized by the Africana Studies and Research Center, several students and faculty members called for a mandatory course on diversity for all students and an end to what they called "institutionalized racism" at Cornell.

Responding at the forum, Rawlings said, "I don't feel that Cornell is institutionally racist, but we do have racism all across our society."

"This is not black or white; this is a human issue," said Hakeem Yusuff, a graduate student in chemical engineering. "We need to be proactive and embrace each other. I don't want to see reactionary gatherings like this; I want to see celebrations of our accomplishments."

"I entirely agree with that," Rawlings said.

Answering the demands for mandatory courses in diversity, Rawlings stressed that this is a faculty matter. But he promised a "clearer, more strategic" plan for diversity programs outside the classroom.

"There are many programs that emphasize diversity, but we have not brought them together [or] made clear to the community what they all add up to," he said.

Salah Hassan, director of the Africana center, said, "Many of us are members of minority communities, and we face this concern on a daily basis. Being concerned about racism should be the concern of everybody."

Rawlings also responded to several comments at the forum regarding articles about race and crime in the student conservative newspaper The Cornell American.

"Where there is race baiting going on, I think that is dangerous under the cover of a free press," Rawlings said. "And some of it, in my opinion, is trashy. You have a right to say what you want to say, but you also have a responsibility in saying it."

Tom Florino, a graduate student in the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs, said that the stabbing incident also raised the issue of "pervasive irresponsible alcohol use."

"It's very true that a vast majority of violent incidents on campus are directly related to alcohol use," Rawlings replied. "Why aren't people more concerned? Alcohol is associated with violence time and time again."

Addressing how the news of the stabbing was handled by the university, Rawlings conceded that "We were not effective in communicating that the assault had taken place. We have reviewed procedures and will post on our Web site the information as it occurs, [and] we will make more changes to ensure we communicate rapidly and effectively."

Terry Plater, associate dean for academic affairs at the Cornell Graduate School, said: "I think people need to know that they can be heard clearly. People appreciate when the university responds sooner, because silence is not understood."

Provost Biddy Martin, Cornell Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant, Chief of University Police Curt Ostrander and Vice Provosts David Harris and Robert Harris also commented at the forum.

Two days earlier, on Feb. 26, a community forum was held to discuss the stabbing, with a panel including Dean of Students Kent Hubbell and Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy.

Poffenbarger is currently free on $20,000 bail. If the grand jury decides to indict him, a criminal trial would probably occur in the fall, Wilkinson said. Poffenbarger also faces judicial administrative review at Cornell once the criminal matter is settled.