In 2018, Smith College student Oumou Kanoute accused the school of racial profiling, saying she was approached by a security officer for “eating while black.” A subsequent investigation found that not only was Kanoute dining in a closed area, she was not racially profiled nor discriminated against.
Still, the incident set off a furor at the private women’s liberal-arts college in Northampton, Mass., with staff forced to take “antiracist” training and some employees tarred as bigots.
-Rob