Students and staff members expressed shock at allegations that, to many, seemed out of another time and place, and that have led to criminal charges and suspensions. At the same time, people here struggled to make sense of accounts that several other students knew what was happening for weeks, but made no effort to stop it or report it to the authorities.
The news prompted a protest on Thursday, in the shadow of a statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the Olympic medal winners and San Jose State alumni who bowed their heads and raised their fists in protest while “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played at the Mexico City Games in 1968.
In a suite on the same dormitory hallway where the incidents are alleged to have occurred, students said on Friday that they had heard rumors as long ago as August, when the school year began, about abuse of a black student and Nazi imagery hanging on dorm walls. But they had not taken the stories seriously, they said, and felt chastened by this week’s news, adding that they wished they had intervened.
