Washington student posts bail in racial threat case

SEATTLE (AP) — A pole vaulter from Western Washington University has posted bail but is banned from campus while awaiting a Dec. 11 arraignment over accusations that he made a racial threat against a black student on social media.

Administrators canceled classes the day before the scheduled Thanksgiving break, after learning about racist remarks on social media that included threats of violence against student body president Belina Seare, who is black.

The long stream of posts mentioned almost every ethnic group, including blacks, Muslims, Jews and American Indians, blaming them for an effort on campus to debate changing the university's mascot, a Viking.

Larry Estrada, associate professor in WWU's Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, opined that fighting racism in higher education will be a long battle because universities were established for the elite and exclude women and minorities.

Alex Ng, a graduate student in the college's teaching program, expressed optimism that something can be done to make Western more comfortable for minority students, but he said non-white students and professors can't be expected to do all the work.