Towson University plans to revamp its process for reviewing incidents on campus allegedly motivated by hate or bias after a number of recent incidents have stirred debate about racism among students.

“In my short time here, several individuals and university groups have widely criticized the hate/bias reporting process,” University President Kim Schatzel wrote in an open letter Wednesday to the campus community.

“It has been described as confusing, ineffective and non-responsive.”

Schatzel, who began her term in January, said the university's Office of Student Conduct launched an investigation into an incident at a campus cafeteria in which an unnamed student made comments that employees called racially derogatory and threatening, as well as “additional incidents involving racist and disruptive behavior.”

“As Towson's president, as an institution of higher education, and as a community, we condemn hate speech and any racist behavior toward a member of our community, and it will not be tolerated,” she wrote in the letter.

“We must also take steps to eliminate the hostile environment created by the conduct, address its effects and take steps to ensure that the conduct does not continue.”

In the cafeteria incident this month, according to a campus police report, a student told a black employee, “You people don't know how to listen,” and threw money across the counter.

The next day, employees became alarmed when the student rifled through a backpack, saying, “I've got something for you,” the report said.

Campus police determined that the behavior wasn't criminal.

According to the police report, the student had been involved in similar confrontations on campus in the past.

University spokesman Ray Feldmann said that officials are investigating whether the cafeteria incident violated the university's code of student conduct.

Feldmann said privacy laws prevented the university from identifying the student or saying what disciplinary action, if any, the student had faced before.

“Depending on the nature of the violation, the sanctions can range anywhere from a no-contact order with the complainant to probation and possible suspension from the university,” Feldmann said in an email.

John Gillespie, a junior and member of the Black Student Union, said students were frustrated by the university's response to the incident.

The group drafted a list of actions it hoped administrators would take, including pursuing criminal charges against the student and reminding students that threatening violence can be a violation of the code of conduct.

Some students also said university officials should clearly explain why the cafeteria incident wasn't included in the campus crime log and why students weren't notified about it.

Gillespie said the incident underscores the belief among black students that the university does not do enough to prevent racist incidents and promote inclusion. On Twitter, the hashtag #TheTowsonIKnow began trending this week with students airing concerns about the racial climate on campus.

“We think it's indicative of the broader struggle,” Gillespie said of the incident. “It's just a super-important example of the kind of structural issues that we talk about.”

Three years ago, then-Towson student Matthew Heimbach started the White Student Union, an organization not sanctioned by the university, that conducted nighttime patrols on campus in response to what he claimed was a spike in black-on-white crime.

Kurt Anderson, president of Towson's Student Government Association, said his group is working with the administration to update its hate and bias procedures, which he said were out of date.

“I know there's a group of students that do not feel safe and feel that the university is not doing enough, and I empathize with that,” Anderson said.

“We're doing everything we can to make the campus community even safer and more inclusive.”

cwells@baltsun.com