No charges for students behind racial slurs at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No charges will be filed after an incident at Texas A&M University in which black high school students touring campus reported being subjected to racial slurs and taunts, the university said Wednesday.

University police said in a statement that the department had investigated the Feb. 9 incident, but did not charge anyone. They did not immediately release the results of their investigation to the public.

Students from a southwest Dallas high school said a Texas A&M student approached them and asked them to look at her Confederate flag earrings. Other white students reportedly shouted "Go back where you came from" and used a slur.

One student has left the university since the incident, Texas A&M President Michael K. Young told The Associated Press Wednesday. But Young declined to say whether the student was expelled or if any others were disciplined, citing a federal law on student privacy.

No video has emerged of the incident, which has hamstrung efforts to identify who was involved and what was said. But several witnesses confirmed hearing a racial slur, Young said.

About 90 miles outside of Houston, Texas A&M is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the state. Its student body is just 3.4 percent African-American, and black student leaders have described hearing insensitive comments on campus and in online forums.

The university has announced several programs in response to the incident. All incoming students will now attend mandatory seminars on diversity, and student group leaders will be required to undergo training on "conducting effective dialogues and meaningful conflict resolution," Young said in a letter to students.

University students also organized a campaign to send thousands of handwritten apology notes to the high school whose students had been touring campus.

Young said he hoped to reach everyone on campus, particularly students who might not want to discuss diversity or racial insensitivity on their own.

But, he added: "there's no magic bullet. There's nothing I can put in the water that everybody has to drink, and all of a sudden everybody's going to understand."