Black Harvard Student Ordered Off Campus: Claims She Is a Victim of Institutional Racism After Drug Dealer was Murdered in Dormitory

Chanequa Campbell, a 21-year-old black woman from Brooklyn, New York was ordered off the Harvard University campus just weeks before she was scheduled to receive her bachelor’s degree.

Harvard reportedly barred Campbell from participation in commencement exercises due to her alleged involvement in an incident that resulted in the shooting and death of a black man on the Harvard campus on May 18.

The victim was reportedly a dealer who sold drugs to Harvard students. Jordan Copney, from New York, who is the boyfriend of a Harvard student, has been charged with the murder. Police believe that Copney had come to Harvard for the express purpose of robbing the victim of drugs and cash.

Campbell, who was taking a final examination at the time of the shooting, claims she had no knowledge of the incident, although she admits being friends with Copney’s girlfriend. But police believe that Campbell gave Copney her Harvard security pass so he could gain access to a campus building where he could lie in wait to rob the drug dealer.

In a statement Campbell said she is a victim of racism. “I’m black and I’m poor and I walk a certain way and I keep my clothes a certain way,” she said. “It’s something that labels me as different from everyone else.”

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.