GRADUATION: Controversial 'water buffalo' case continues

The racial harassment allegation against College freshman Eden Jacobowitz -- a case which has attracted national media attention -- will be heard and possibly ruled on today by a five-person panel of faculty and students. Late one night in January, Jacobowitz shouted to a group of black sorority women allegedly making noise outside his High Rise East dormitory room, calling them "water buffalo." He was accused by five of the women of violating the University's Racial Harassment Policy, although he has denied his words carried any racial connotations. Jacobowitz said he has maintained his innocence to the Judicial Inquiry Officer and to Hackney himself since he was first approached about the incident. In March, he rejected Assistant JIO Robin Read's proposed settlement of the case, opting instead for a formal hearing. The JIO is prohibited by federal and University statutes to discuss specifics of the case before the hearing occurs, and, under the same laws, the names of the five complainants are not made public. The case -- along with the April 15 theft of nearly 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian by black students angry at what they consider racism in the newspaper and on campus -- has renewed debate about the University's speech code and about free expression in general. The incident has come to light at a time when the University is receiving extra national media attention because President Sheldon Hackney has been nominated to head the National Endowment for the Humanities. Although he has come under fire from critics who say he should do more to defend free speech, Hackney insists the University's judicial guidelines do not restrict free expression and that Jacobowitz will receive a fair hearing. He is not discussing details of the case, however, citing confidentiality rules. The hearing date was originally postponed until the fall by Judicial Administrator John Brobeck, who said the publicity the case has generated would make a fair trial difficult. The date was changed again after Hackney and Provost Michael Aiken "encouraged" Brobeck to do so, Hackney said last week. Despite his repeated insistence that he is innocent, Jacobowitz said he has not been supported -- and has been prosecuted instead -- by the administration. Jacobowitz said he talked to University Police officers minutes after he and other High Rise East residents yelled out their windows around midnight at women on Superblock who were screaming and "making real loud 'Woo! Woo!' noise." He was the only student to admit to the action, although he claims not to have been the individual who yelled racial slurs which the sorority women say they heard. After the police officers left his sixth floor room, Jacobowitz said some of the sorority women came up to his floor and harassed his roommate, calling him "white boy." Neither Jacobowitz nor his roommate have filed racial harassment charges against the women. The following January morning, Jacobowitz was questioned again by the police and, soon after, received notification about the formal JIO charges against him for yelling "water buffalo." Jacobowitz said that he, History Professor Alan Kors, who is advising him, and numerous University faculty members willing to testify on his behalf -- including noted black sociologist Elijah Anderson -- maintain there are no racial connotations associated with "water buffalo." According to Jacobowitz, Read said she based her finding in the case partially on the fact that water buffalo -- which actually are indigenous to South Asia -- are dark animals native to Africa. Jacobowitz said that, in addition, "water buffalo" does not violate the University's racial harassment policy. The policy prohibits "behavior that: insults or demeans the person or persons to whom the behavior is directed . . . on the basis of his or her race, color, ethnicity or national origin." He said that his words -- "Shut up. Shut up, you water buffalo. If you're looking for a party, there's a zoo a mile from here" -- did not include a reference to the race of the women. "I shouted something dumb," Jacobowitz said during an interview last week. "I knew I wasn't screaming out anything really wrong, [but instead a] ridiculous word." He said Read is misconstruing the term and, possibly due to political pressure within the University, is over-anxiously attempting to turn the racial harassment complaint against him into a racial harassment conviction. "There is a victim in this case and it's me," he said, calling Read "subjective" and a "non-rational JIO." Jacobowitz said Read initially offered him a three-part settlement in mid-March, which included formally apologizing to the complainants, organizing a diversity seminar and being placed on residential probation. But Jacobowitz said Read added a fourth stipulation -- a racial harassment notation on his transcript for the next two years, which would be seen by graduate school admissions offices -- after telling him she did "some soul searching" and evaluated her "responsibility to the University." In an April letter to Read, in which Jacobowitz rejected her proposed sanctions, Jacobowitz wrote, "You interpreted my phrase 'water buffalo,' refering to people making loud noise beneath my window, to quote your words, as a reference to 'primitive, dark animals that live in Africa.' (In fact, water buffalo are above all indigenous to South Asia.) That was the farthest meaning from my mind. Those are your words not mine. That is your meaning not mine." A copy of this letter was also sent to Hackney, Aiken, other University officials and various journalists and civil libertarians. But he said the only response he received was from people outside the University, such as conservative columnist George Will, who accused University administrators in a column of trying to enforce a rigid code of political correctness. Linguistics Professor Dan Ben-Amos suggested last month that when Jacobowitz -- a former yeshiva student born in Israel -- shouted "water buffalo, " he was actually translating the Hebrew word "behameh," which literally means water oxen and in slang means foolish person. The case has been the subject of articles and editorials in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and other national publications, which have been largely critical of the University's handling of the case and of the University's racial harassment policy. Numerous local and national radio programs, including the Rush Limbaugh Show, have featured the case as well. Jacobowitz said he has also had inquiries from Rolling Stone magazine and talk show host Arsenio Hall. Now, after four months of dealings with the JIO, two faculty advisors, and all the media attention, the case may be resolved today by the JIO panel. Jacobowitz said he thinks his case will be dismissed. "I haven't gotten one negative response," he said, noting that he has been apporached by six separate attorneys offering him legal counsel pro bono. He has also received the support and endorsement of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti-Defamation League. "I am ready for this trial," he said. "I am able to back up anything I say. I am ready to disprove anything [Read] has to say." Today's hearing will be one of "several" to occur this year, Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said last week. He said out of about 200 JIO cases during each school year, only 5 to 12 are taken to formal hearings. The rest, Moneta said, accept "reasonable sanctions" offered by the JIO.

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