In October 2003, the arrest of Spruce College House Associate Faculty Master Rui DaSilva raised a furor over Penn police policy with regards to minorities and the possibility of racial profiling.
DaSilva, who is black, was pepper-sprayed and arrested for disorderly conduct while attempting to deliver donated bicycles to the Quadrangle. The charges were later dropped.
DaSilva and his wife, Director of Latino Studies and Faculty Master Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, responded to the incident in an open letter published in The Daily Pennsylvanian which asked, "Can people of color feel confident that they will not be viewed as suspects while on campus, whether or not they are carrying items of value?"
The incident prompted former President Judith Rodin to mandate the creation of a committee comprised of various members of the Penn community to study general trends within the Penn Police concerned with racial bias.
The committee issued a lengthy report in which they recommended that police receive increased training in dealing with racial profiling. The report did not, however, issue an apology to DaSilva or his family.
Warith Deen Madyun, a sophomore in the College who has organized a protest outside President Amy Gutmann's office today, cited incidents such as this as the impetus for his effort.
