It is hard to express yourself on the DU campus, especially if you are a minority student. This is the view of graduate student Bassem Hassan.

Hassan addressed the AUSA Senate last night on the difficulties he and the Arab Student Association had with Campus Safety last week when the group was organizing a vigil to remember the victims of the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre in Palestine.

Hassan, the organizer of the event, said he went through unwarranted questions by Campus Safety. He also said that Campus Safety jeopardized his privacy and security by releasing his name to the Denver Police Department without his knowledge or permission. In a similar complaint last quarter to the Senate, a black student accused Campus Safety of racial profiling.

Hassan was interviewed after his AUSA appearance. Hassan received permission by the university to reserve Driscoll Lawn to hold the event. The event was to be followed by a march across campus. The university informed him that he should contact Campus Safety to find out where ASA could and could not march. When Hassan told Campus Safety about the event, he said that Campus Safety asked him who the speakers were going to be. Next, a Campus Safety officer took photographs of the ASA posters. Later, Campus Safety contacted the speakers and asked them about their presentations.

“Would Campus Safety ask the Black Student Alliance, or any other organization, all these questions?” Hassan said.

When Hassan asked about having a march, Campus Safety said that he might need a permit and should contact the Denver Police Department. Hassan, not being familiar with Colorado laws, requested that Campus Safety contact the Denver Police Department on his behalf and later be informed if he would need a permit. On the day of the vigil, two Denver Police Department officers contacted Hassan and subjected him to the same questioning Campus Safety had already asked. Hassan said that Campus Safety had no right to release his name and number to the police.

On the day of the event, Hassan said that there were not only Campus Safety officers present but also three to four Denver Police Squad cars. He said that this made the atmosphere of the event tense and many of the spectators in the audience felt very uncomfortable.

The current incident is similar to the incident that occurred last quarter with Thomas Ware who was stopped and questioned by Campus Safety about several burglaries. Ware, an African American, said he did not resemble the description of the suspect Campus Safety was seeking.