According to College junior Warith Deen Madyun, in 2004 a Penn Police officer grabbed him and slammed him to the ground while apprehending him in what turned out to be a mistake.
Madyun said officers were unnecessarily rough because he is black.
More than a year later, a new report says initiatives the University has undertaken to combat racial profiling as a result of the incident are working.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Safety in a Diverse Environment released a status report yesterday detailing Penn's progress in putting the committee's recommendations -- made last spring -- into action.
These include college house-sponsored forums and police diversity training.
Penn administrators formed the ad hoc committee to examine the relationship between security forces and minorities on campus following Madyun's mistaken apprehension.
Police mistook Madyun and a group of friends for a group believed to have taken the cell phone of Penn President Amy Gutmann.
While multicultural group leaders say they agree with the report's praise of University efforts, they also said another racially charged incident is inevitable.
The report lists all programs sponsored by Penn and the Division of Public Safety to better interactions between Penn security and minorities on campus.
Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that based on the recommendations, DPS began many new programs, including retooling the DPS Web site to include Frequently Asked Questions about DPS and biographies of all personnel.
Rush added that the division also reinvigorated programs already in place, such as the assignment of a liaison between DPS and each college house.
The report also listed ongoing initiatives to improve relations between DPS and the West Philadelphia community, including diversity training programs for Penn Police and dialogues with community leaders.
Rush said that many of these programs are not new, but accountability for their progress has increased as a result of the committee's report.
"The value of all this examination of everything we do is we are able to document it more fully, and we are able to communicate more fully, so people understand what we've been doing," Rush said.
She added that all Penn Police and security partners, like AlliedBarton, go through programs such as diversity training.
Sean Vereen, associate director of the Greenfield Intercultural Center and a committee member, said the most successful initiative inspired by the report is the liaison program between DPS and student cultural centers on campus.
He added that the enhanced communication program "put a face on public safety" and is the "most powerful thing that they are doing."
Vereen also said that Penn has made diversity a priority on all fronts over the past few years, but that another race-related incident is inevitable.
"There's still going to be misunderstandings because of the dynamics of this neighborhood, because of the realities of the city and this country," Vereen said.
The report -- which appears in this week's issue of Almanac, the University's publication of record -- is accompanied by a letter from Gutmann, Provost Ron Daniels and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli outlining Penn-wide initiatives to promote diversity. These programs include recruiting minority faculty and changes made last month to Penn's financial aid policy that make it more friendly to low-income families.
The senior administrators wanted the letter to "indicate the number of areas in which we're undertaking initiatives that weren't necessarily the result of specific recommendations," Daniels added.
Fighting profiling The University has undertaken several initiatives to guard against racial profiling and make its safety division more open. - Penn Police officers undergo mandatory diversity training - The Division of Public Safety's Web site now answers frequently asked questions - DPS has hosted several forums for community members to voice their concerns about the Penn Police
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