University of Colorado at Boulder administrators and student leaders today strongly condemned an attack against two Nigerian men -- at least one of whom is a CU student -- that occurred in the city of Boulder in the early hours of Saturday morning.
City law enforcement officials notified CU-Boulder officials this morning of the bias-motivated attack against CU student Olubiyi Ogundipe, and a 23-year-old associate, by three young men. One man, a 22-year-old resident of Lafayette, CO, is in custody after he was apprehended by a CU police officer. Two other men are being sought in connection to the crime. It is not known if the 23-year-old associate of Ogundipe's is a CU student or not at this time.
"This act of racial violence and ethnic intimidation has no place in our community or any community," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. "It is an affront to our values of diversity and inclusion, and a threat to the welcoming community that CU-Boulder and the City of Boulder strive to create."
CU-Boulder Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Julie Wong echoed DiStefano.
"We are extending outreach to Olubiyi and want him to know this outrageous act does not represent the values of our campus, the Boulder community or neighboring communities, or our nation," said Wong.
CU Student Government (CUSG) President Will Taylor said the attack against Olubiyi "is an attack against all CU students, and one will we not stand for."
"All CU students today are standing with Olubiyi, and standing against this kind of hateful, violent act," said Taylor. "We want him to know he is a welcome member of our community, and that all students, regardless of their national origin, race, gender or gender identification, sexual orientation, religion or political orientation, are welcome at CU-Boulder."
All three campus leaders praised the work of CU and City of Boulder police officers in responding to and investigating the case, and urged any witnesses to come forward to provide information to Boulder police.
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