The Northwestern University Police Department Advisory Board, created in response to an alleged incident of racial profiling of a student last year, will meet for the first time next week, according to Dean of Students Burgwell Howard.
The Coalition of Colors formed the advisory board last fall based on claims from then-senior, Joshua Williams, Communication ’10, and former UP officer Freddie Lee, of racial profiling and harassment from University employees and administrators.
The group, led by UP Chief Bruce Lewis consists of representatives from various minority student groups including For Members Only, Asian Pacific American Coalition, South Asian Student Alliance and Alianza, as well as ASG.
APAC president and Communication senior Joe Spiro said the Coalition of Colors had a few meetings last year but is still hammering out the major details.
“It’s amorphous right now; it’s probably changing even as we speak,” he said.
The Coalition of Colors created the advisory board on the recommendation of a hired law enforcement consultant and research, which showed that several other schools similar to NU in size and academic ranking have done the same thing, Spiro said.
“We sought to emulate those, seeing that it seemed to be a fair solution that could work,” he said.
The goal of the board is to create a unified community by addressing complaints regarding racial profiling on campus and UP efficiency, said VP for Student Affairs William Banis in an interview with The Daily last October.
Williams said he hasn’t heard much about the advisory board since it was formed. In spring 2009, Williams said he was stopped four times in one day on campus and asked for student identification – which he deemed the result of racial profiling. Williams’ experience led him and several other students to approach administrators about starting the advisory board.
The day for next week’s meeting has yet to be finalized, Howard said.
“The advisory board is getting back into the flow of things once again,” he said.
