According to police, Castro felt threatened by the message and slept at a friend’s house the night he received the e-mail. He told the Daily Camera, the daily newspaper in Boulder, Colo., that he doesn’t harass Zeigle.
The suspension announcement came three days after head football coach Gary Barnett accepted a $3 million contract buyout from the university. The football program has weathered intense criticism multiple times during his tenure. And Barnett himself was widely criticized for disparaging comments he made about the team’s lone female player after she filed rape charges against one of her teammates. The program has also been marred by the disclosure of a secret slush fund and a sordid recruiting scandal in which sex was allegedly used to entice athletes to come to the school.
There have also been several racially tinged incidents in Boulder over the past year. A Black student government leader received an e-mail in November that threatened her life, prompting a campus police investigation and student rallies (see Diverse, Dec. 15, 2005). In February, those attending the Big 12 Conference on Black Student Affairs reported racist remarks, staring and poor service at an area restaurant. And in June a mixed-race student suffered a broken jaw in an assault near campus.
— Associated Press
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
