New details emerge about ‘profanity’ incident on Gettysburg College campus

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (WHP) — According to the student newspaper The Gettysburgian, the victim's parents said they learned that a student had carved the N-word into another student's chest with a box cutter.

Both were members of the school's swim team, and the alleged perpetrator was expelled from the Gettysburgian, according to The Gettysburgian.

The incident reportedly occurred on September 6, but it was only made public last week. Since then, the students say the community has responded well.

“I think we are more united now. I think everyone is pretty disgusted by what happened and I think now we are trying to move forward united,” said a student from Gettysburg.

CBS21 News also spoke with Gettysburg police, who said they had not received a formal complaint and therefore could not comment on the matter.

The victim's family, along with the school, released a statement about what they called a “hate crime” against their son. The statement was published in the student-run newspaper.

The statement said they had filed complaints with the Harrisburg NAACP chapter and the Pennsylvania NAACP conference, alleging that the school did not properly handle the situation.

They say their son, who was also a member of the school's swim team, was dismissed from the program after being questioned.

When CBS21 News was on the campus of Gettysburg College last week, students said the school's communication at the time was very unclear. However, since more details have come to light, students say they have been well informed.

We reached out to the school, which declined to comment, and to the Harrisburg chapter of the NAACP, which declined to comment but said in an email, “It's only the beginning of the school year, and no one should be afraid to go to college.”

Gettysburg police said they had not received any complaints.