First gen college student settles lawsuit with Utah State over ‘coon’ caricature

Gregory Noel said he told school administrators about the incidents but they did little to investigate, according to the lawsuit filed by his attorneys.

$45,000. That’s the amount Utah State University agreed to pay one of its former graduate students who alleged in a lawsuit that the school’s faculty and staff  “repeatedly racially discriminated against” him.

Gregory Noel, a first-generation college student who graduated from Utah Tech University in 2013, filed the claim earlier this year. He said he worked for years to save money to enroll in Utah State, where he alleges he endured racially offensive comments about his Haitian heritage and ridicule via a picture of him that looked like a “coon” caricature.

Noel said he told school administrators about the incidents but they did little to investigate, according to the lawsuit filed by his attorneys. 

Last week, the school admitted no wrongdoing but settled the case.

In the settlement document, shared with theGrio, both sides agreed not to discuss the terms of the deal, but the record does provide some details. “Noel agrees to not publicly disparage USU or its past or present trustees, officers, employees, or students in any way,” the settlement says.

“With this case resolved, we’ll continue to move forward in creating a culture of belonging at Utah State University and meet our mission of excellence, access and inclusion,” the university said in a statement sent to theGrio. “Whenever there are allegations of discrimination, USU strives to address and prevent the behavior and provide a fair and equitable process to resolve grievances,” the statement continued.

Attorneys representing Noel did not respond to theGrio’s request for comment.

While neither party will discuss the alleged incidents, Noel’s lawsuit provides specifics about the racism he said he experienced. The claim also states that  Noel reported racially insensitive mistreatment at the hands of several faculty and staff members and the school failed to address it. 

During one of his classes, a computer error caused him to lose some of his work. He loudly voiced his frustrations. 

In response, a professor asked if his reaction was him “going full Haitian” and called him “violent” according to the lawsuit. That same professor later drew a picture that resembled Noel. The entire class saw it. “The image depicted an individual with dark skin, a hairstyle like [Greg’s], and exaggerated features,” the lawsuit reads. Noel filed a report with the school’s Office of Equity in March 2020. 

The response was inadequate, the claim stated. “Greg made several complaints about the investigators and the investigation, and he was ignored. Despite these setbacks, the Office of Equity found that “there is a preponderance of the evidence that the offensive caricature [the director of USU’s MFT program] drew was intended to depict [Greg], and the exaggerated features were included based on [Greg’s] race and/or color” and the drawing was “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the student’s education and create an abusive learning environment[.]” the lawsuit says. 

The school placed a warning letter in the professor’s file but removed it after the professor sought an appeal with an academic tenure committee.

In recent years, USU has settled several lawsuits with students that involve a wide array of issues, including sexual assault and offensive language.

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