Drake says racism was not a factor in treatment of black student

A report released Wednesday by Drake University says there’s inconclusive evidence to say there was any overt racism in the arrest of a black football player who had been wrestling with a white woman. Phil Joseph was arrested April 20th after campus security received a report Joseph was assaulting the woman during a street painting event connected with the Drake Relays. Drake President David Maxwell assigned a five-member panel to investigate the issue and says a finding of no overt racism does not let him or anyone else at Drake breath a sigh of relief on the topic of racism.Maxwell says the report shows the security officer acted appropriately on the false report, but did go too far in using a baton and mace to subdue Joseph during his arrest. He says the report shows a need for better training. He says, “Drake has an ambiguous security philosophy.” He says there’s not a clear adopted policy for the use of force, no community friendly training and no mechanism for complaints about security.Maxwell says the University security force of 20 will be retrained to respond in a more appropriate manner to such incidents. He says they’ll also review the way officers are hired.Maxwell says diversity efforts already underway on campus will continue. He says while alcohol was not involved in Joseph’s arrest, it was part of the atmosphere at the event that may’ve led officers to respond the way they did. He says the University’s expectations about student behavior and the environment outside the incident did not live up to expectations.Maxwell was asked if Drake would make an apology to Joseph. Maxwell says he will meet privately with Joseph today and determine what Joseph feels is appropriate in the way of an apology.