Actual or suspected hoaxes can have lingering effects. At Miami University in Ohio, the display of racist and homophobic fliers six years ago -- and the possibility that the incident was staged by a hoaxer -- still weighs on the school's president, James C. Garland. He said one of the worst consequences is that some people come away with the belief that "racial incidents and race relations are really not an issue, that it's all a trumped-up hoax or manufactured to make political points."
Still, experts say, campus hoaxes can actually help achieve some goals of the perpetrators by bringing sympathetic attention to an issue. After the incident at Miami University, officials stepped up efforts to recruit and mentor minorities.
Snow, president of the campus' Black Student Action Assn. at the time of the suspected hoax, said he wonders whether the campus would have changed if not for the event. For years, he pushed administrators to improve conditions for minorities.
"Ironically," he said, "everything I asked and wanted them to do, they have implemented now."
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College hate crime hoaxes
Since 1997, more than 20 hate crime hoaxes have been confirmed or suspected at colleges across the nation. A sampling:
Date: 1997
Incident: A black doll, with a small sign attached saying, "Duke Hasn't Changed," was found hanging from a tree by a noose. Two black students later confessed, reportedly saying they wanted to make a political statement.
Location: Duke University, North Carolina
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Date: 1998
Incident: Jerry William Kennedy Jr., 23, an openly gay resident assistant, reported that he had been the victim of nine hate crimes over three years. He confessed to fabricating the story.
Location: University of Georgia
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Date: 1998
Incident: Jennifer Prissel, a senior, told police that two men punched her in the eye and cut her face while yelling anti-gay slurs. Prissel later confessed she made up the incident.
Location: St. Cloud University, Minnesota
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Date: 1999
Incident: During a rally triggered by three sexual assaults on campus, a student claimed she had just been attacked by a man with a knife. She later admitted to concocting the story, and police said her facial wounds were self-inflicted.
Location: University of Massachusetts
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Date: 2001
Incident: Ahmad Saad Nasim, a junior, said he was beaten and pelted with eggs as his attackers uttered racial epithets. Later, he was found lying in a locked bathroom stall, apparently attempting to fake another hate crime. Campus police say he admitted to staging the incidents.
Location: Arizona State University
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Date: 2002
Incident: A black freshman reported finding racist graffiti on his dormitory door, including the image of a hanging noose. Three other black freshmen later apologized, saying it was intended as a prank. They were placed on probation by the university.
Location: University of Mississippi
Sources: Times staff reports
Los Angeles Times
