BU expels 1 wrestler, suspends 1 
               Third student charged with
             assault cleared during hearing 

                  By GREG ERBSTOESSER 
                        Staff Writer 
              Two months after a Binghamton
              University brawl in which three white
              students were accused of assaulting a
              group of Asian-American students, the
              university has expelled one man charged
              in the attack and suspended another for
              two years.

              Nicholas W. Richetti, 19, of Waverly
              was expelled Monday, while Chad Scott,
              18, of Walton was suspended for two
              years and will not be eligible for
              reinstatement until the fall of 2002. A
              third student, Christopher M. Taylor, 20,
              of Seaford was cleared. All three were
              members of the BU wrestling team.

              Richetti and Scott also were ordered to
              pay for medical claims not covered by
              victim John E. Lee's insurance.

              The rulings, announced Monday, were
              made by a special three-member
              disciplinary board of school
              administrators.

              "Their decision is final," said university
              spokeswoman Katharine Ellis. The two,
              however, can appeal to a university
              hearing officer. Ellis would not identify
              the three administrators. Two were
              women, she said.

              Richetti, Scott and Taylor face a separate
              criminal investigation and prosecution by
              the Broome County District Attorney's
              Office, which charged them with
              second-degree gang assault, a felony.

              Binghamton University freshman Ronnie
              Han, a Korean-American from Queens
              who has followed the case closely, said
              Monday night he accepted the
              university's decision.

              "It's maybe not quick, but at least they
              came up with something. I understand
              that they cannot move too quickly," he
              said.

              Richetti, Scott and Taylor were
              suspended and ordered to vacate the
              university grounds March 6, following
              their arrest three days earlier by
              university police. 

              The incident, on Feb. 27, left Lee with a
              fractured skull and opened an ethnic gash
              on campus. Asian-American students
              called for apologies from school officials
              and more recognition on campus.

              In a 1½-page statement, the university
              said Richetti was found responsible for
              violating regulations in the university's
              rules of student conduct, specifically two
              counts each of causing injury to another
              person; striking, shoving, or kicking
              another person; and harassing conduct
              that limits or denies equal treatment of
              another person "because of race, color,
              sex, sexual orientation, religion, age,
              disability, veteran status, marital status,
              national origin or ancestry."

              The board found Scott guilty of the one
              count each of the same three offenses.

              Ellis declined to elaborate further, saying
              the school was following federal student
              privacy regulations.

              School officials also have called for a
              separate investigation into the university's
              wrestling program. There is the
              possibility the program could be put on
              probation.

              The FBI also has stepped into the fray,
              starting its own investigation into whether
              the fight may have violated federal civil
              rights laws.

              Asian students have won the support of
              the school's Student Association, and
              Asian students have organized several
              demonstrations to publicize their
              demands and condemn racist assaults.

              The students also have pressed their
              demands to university officials, calling for
              apologies from the administration and
              statements of condemnation from the
              faculty.

              Several meetings with school
              administrators have occurred, but those
              talks have broken down and no further
              meetings are planned. Classes end May
              12.
 
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