St. Thomas to hold campus-wide meeting to address racism

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The University of St. Thomas says it will cancel classes next Wednesday and hold a campus-wide meeting to talk about how to combat racism at the St. Paul school.

Hundreds of students and faculty members held a sit-in at the university’s student center Thursday to show solidarity with students of color.

President Julie Sullivan says the recent report by a black freshman about finding a racial slur on his dorm room door is the latest in a string of troubling racial incidents at the Catholic campus where about 85 percent of the undergraduate student body is white.

Sullivan says next week’s gathering will kick-off the university’s commitment to addressing “systemic racism and hate in our community.”