Coast Guard Academy: 2 white cadets harassed black classmate

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The U.S. Coast Guard Academy says an investigator has recommended discipline against two white cadets for harassing a black classmate.

The investigation was prompted by an October incident in which a cadet played a racially offensive song in the black cadet’s room. After leaving to tell a peer counsellor, the black cadet returned to find the background screen on his computer had been changed to show the Mississippi state flag, which includes the Confederate battle flag.

The Connecticut-based academy said Wednesday two investigations by the Coast Guard found the white cadets harassed their classmate. An investigator recommended the students be charged with violations of the Regulations of the Corps of Cadets, but it’s unclear what discipline that would entail.

Superintendent Rear Adm. James Rendon has said he was angered by the episode.