WashU students reach agreement with nightclub
Dressed in formal suits and ties, the six black students at Washington University who were denied entrance to a Chicago nightclub because of a “baggy jeans” policy announced this afternoon that they have reached an agreement with the club.
The club will issue an individual apology to the six students as well as a public apology to the senior class at Washington U., the students said. In addition, the management group that runs The Original Mothers nightclub will make all of its managers at all of its establishments undergo diversity training.
On top of that, the students said there will be a demonstration in Chicago in November about the issue of racial discrimination at which representatives of the bar will participate. Finally, the students said the club will host 3 of 4 fundraisers in the coming months — the proceeds of which will go to community groups yet to be identified.
The students said that as part of the agreement, they have agreed not to sue the club. They added that they were never interested in receiving some sort of financial settlement as some people have conjectured.
While the bar manager night denied the black students entrance on the basis of the “baggy jeans” policy, the students believed it was an issue of racial discrimination. A white student changed into the jeans of one of the black students who had been denied and was admitted into the bar that same night.
Click here to see the club’s earlier statement.
The students said they are satisfied by this agreement — and have been floored by the amount of media attention this incident has generated.
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. 
It appears that the issue was not about black students, clothing, white students… The answer is it was about green. I am not referring to green as in a “green world”. But the kind of green we have in our banks. It wins nearly everytime. Remember, go with the money. This is very sick world.
Floored by the media attention? Don’t they know media just loves a story about blacks being wronged?
Look what being denied a few hours in a nightclub garnered these 6 young people……
Some stories in the Trib said a video of the incident showed management about to allow all in when the black “students” resorted to street tactics and got into management’s face and attempted the old shout down routine at which point management barred them again and for good.
They did not receive any money!! The club knows what they did was wrong a lot of clubs do it all the time to limit the number of black people they let into their clubs. A lot of us have experienced it but what are you going to do???
congrats to the students. they get their apology and don’t come off as greedy. if this had gone to court, their behavior would have been a legal issue.
The fact that a white student was admitted in THE SAME EXACT PANTS on the same evening clearly shows this was racism. And if someone did that to me I’d probably “get in their face” too. That’s not street tactics, its sticking up for your rights.
Mad scientist, the white kid could have been fatter, so wearing the same pants as the black kid, actually means nothing. Nobody is made the same size.
I guess the good thing about all this, is that once the real ghetto kids hear that rich Washu students are saggin’, they will start pulling their pants up.
don’t know what’s nuttier — the fact that in 2009 Black STUDENTS (in all caps sense there seems to be an issue about that) at washington university can’t get into a nightclub due to race or the IDIOTS on here who want to somehow defend the “club.” and notice, they did not personally gain from this, but instead are holding fundraisers for the greater good of humanity!
Polska,
The issue here is about baggy pants, not sagging pants. The bouncer denied the students entry because of the size of the pants, not because he was showing his underwear. Just wanted to point that out.
Hard to believe so many people here still wanting to deny what happened. People don’t apologize for being right; props to the owners for recognizing quickly their error and backing off their “justifications.” Let’s hope there is the same desire to stand up to injustice in St. Louis, where racism is far more rampant.