WashU Chancellor tells Chicago mayor he is “deeply disappointed” in treatment of 6 black students
Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton
The chancellor of Washington University has written a letter to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley saying that he is “deeply disappointed” about a recent incident in which six black students were denied access to a Chicago nightclub.
Chancellor Mark Wrighton went on to ask Daley to investigate the matter fully and to “take the steps necessary to ensure that similar incidents do not occur to future visitors to the City of Chicago.”
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
A Daley spokesman noted that the city’s Commission on Human Relations in investigating the incident, and added that, “Everyone is welcome in Chicago.”
The students have also filed complaints with the Illinois attorney general’s office and the U.S. Justice Department.
A member of the management group that runs Mother’s Nightclub Original said this afternoon that they are in the midst of their own internal investigation and expected to release a statement on the matter “shortly.”
More than 200 Washington U. students went to the Chicago nightclub last Saturday night as part of a senior class trip to the Windy City. Six black students were turned away from the door, ostensibly because they did not comply with the club’s “baggy jeans” policy. But the students believe the real reason they were really turned away because they are black.
They noted, for example, that some white students who had been admitted to the bar were wearing baggier jeans. And they said a bar manager refused to consider admitting the students even after they offered to change into different clothes.
Representatives of the nightclub told the Chicago Tribune last week that the students were not admitted because of security concerns and noted that gang violence was common in the area. They said it was not an issue of racism and noted that other black patrons were allowed in.
In his letter to Daley, Wrighton wrote that Washington U. students are bright, optimistic and “eager to tackle our world’s most pressing challenges.”
“I can only imagine the humiliation and discouragement these six young students felt last weekend when they were turned away from this establishment because of their race,” Wrighton wrote. “I am hopeful that this incident has not in any way damaged their perspective and their sense of self-esteem, but I doubt that is the case.”
He continued: “Chicago is a great city and Chicagoans can take pride that one of their residents was the first African American to be elected President of the United States, but the experience of our students represents a setback for the City and reveals that we still have much work to do to achieve true racial equality in this country.”
Click here to read the full letter.
Students held a protest in Chicago the day after the incident. They have also released the photos below of a white student who later went back to the hotel and put on the jeans of one of the students who was not allowed in. The white student went back to the club and was admitted, according to students.
Courtesy of Student Life
The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.
Kavita Kumar covers higher education for the Post-Dispatch. 
Why do I doubt the whole story isn’t being told here?
OK, A club owned and operated by a private citizen, bought and paid for with his “hard earned money”.
Now this owner decides to have a dress code, part of which includes no Baggy Jeans (most likely with underwear hanging out)in order to keep out a bad element, and to most likely keep out undesirable individuals, with no
relation to race , color or creed, Just a bad group that might ruin it for others or maybe even an attempt to bring a bit of class to his establishment. Maybe the Honorable Chancellor should have considered informing his best and brightest, that they were representing to Univ. and should act and dress accordingly. And maybe yet, there are other issues which the Honorable Chancellor might need to address which might be more important specific to the U.
Do you think Tony’s would allow certain less than acceptable dress into his establishment? No different, and maybe just maybe, My Senior English teacher was right: “You act like you Dress. Dress for a picnic and you act like you are going to a picnic”
Maybe it is because you have a problem with racial issues.
Hard to believe Wrighton would let himself get drawn into this without being there and without knowing all the FACTS. It doesn’t speak well of Washington University. If there were already African-American patrons inside the club, how can the ones on the outside in the baggy pants claim discrimination? Sound like these KIDS went up there to look for trouble and they found it. Wrighton should aplogize to the city of Chicago.
Drive to the 7900 block of North Broadway ( be sure to lock your car doors, another murder in that area last night) You will see a BLACK bar which has a sign prominately displayed which says in part,”…no sagging, no hoodies…” Even the blacks discriminate against the thug crowd. They wont allow them in their own bars and I dont blame them.
Sounds like a nice place.
Mayor Daley ought to write back to the ivory tower resident and tell him he is deeply disappointed that students representing his institution would deport themselves in such a despicable manner. Dressing as a thug should get you excluded from the mans’ bar. Dont they teach any courses in self respect at your esteemed university? Or is it because they are black they get a free pass-as always.
Mr. Right how do you know there were black patrons inside the club? Oh, yeah, the owner said so.
So, let’s recap, 200 students go to the club, and 6 of them are turned away at the door - and all are black? If they were looking for a trouble going as a group of 200, then the club let in 194 people looking for trouble.
I think it’s interesting that the club cited gang violence. If you’ve ever met any of the Black students at Wash U, they are the least “gangsta” black kids you’ll ever meet. It’s a club, it’s not Tony’s! I think it would be a different story if NONE of the kids with baggy jeans were let in. From the picture above, it seems like both of the kids were wearing baggy jeans.
Some seem to be purposefully ignoring the fact that white students with the same attire were admitted.
A dress code is perfectly legal. A dress code that is not imposed equally is not.