Dive Brief:

• Three San Jose State University students charged with hate crime and battery in a racial bullying case have been expelled.
• A fourth student also charged in the bullying case has had his suspension extended and will have to undergo counseling if he returns to the university.
• The four students are accused of subjecting their dormitory roommate, Donald Williams Jr., who is black, to racially offensive name-calling, putting up a Confederate flag on a window in their suite, locking him in his room, writing the "N-word" on a dry-erase board in the suite’s living room, and fastening a U-shaped bicycle lock around his neck.

Dive Insight:

This was a step the university had to take, obviously. The expelled students are banned for life from all California State University colleges. The incidents became public in November, leading to an internal investigation, an apology from San Jose State’s president, the creation of a task force, and the police charges. Community outrage was directed at the school for allowing the alleged bullying to continue for weeks.