'Water buffalo' sides discuss inquiry board

The announcement that a faculty Board of Inquiry will examine how judicial procedures were followed in the "water buffalo" case has drawn sharp responses from those closely involved with the incident. "There were definite problems with the procedure," said College senior Nikki Taylor, one of the five women who had filed the racial harassment charges in the case. "A lot of the problems had to due with agents of the University who seemed that they had personal stakes in the case." Taylor said she and other complainants in the incident withdrew their charges against College sophomore Eden Jacobowitz because biased media coverage and the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the case made it "impossible to get a fair hearing." "The primary reason we withdrew our case was not because we were wrong or Eden didn't say what he said, but because we had a system working against us," she said. Taylor also claimed there were problems with the proceedings because History Professor Alan Kors, Jacobowitz's advisor, and University officials engaged in collusion and conspiracy against the complainants. Kors had harsh words yesterday for the judicial system, the Judicial Inquiry Office and the Board of Inquiry. "It is good to study tragedy and stupidity," he said. "But to appoint a board to determine whether the judicial system functioned properly at Penn last year is like appointing a board to discover whether the Himalayas are mountains or valleys." Kors also said the JIO is a "partisan, out-of-control, and low-I.Q. operation" that shows "a total disregard for the rights of the students of the University of Pennsylvania." He added that "every aspect" of the proceedings against Jacobowitz was filled with "injustice and denial of due process." When these complaints were brought before the administration, "they could not have cared less," Kors said. The Jacobowitz case, in which five black women accused then-freshman Jacobowitz of racial harassment for calling them "water buffalo," received national media attention last spring. Robin Read, the associate JIO in the Jacobowitz case, said yesterday she properly followed all judicial procedures when investigating incident. Read said that while she had not heard of the board's inquiry previously, she hopes it will help the University community better understand the judicial charter and the workings of the judicial system. "I think there is a real need for people to understand what the procedures are," she said. "A more simplified way of understanding what the procedures are would be helpful." Taylor said she has not been contacted by the board and is unsure how she feels about the investigation. "It doesn't matter now," she said. "I had to withdraw ? I don't know what to say [about the board]." Neither Jacobowitz or any of Taylor's co-complainants could be reached for comment.