The Hanover Police have charged Jeffrey Link '98 with disorderly conduct for allegedly writing the words "chink" and "bastard" on the door of the room of two Asian-American students in the Choates Cluster two weeks ago.
Link turned himself in to Hanover Police on Jan. 24, according to a Hanover Police press release. He was released the same day.
Hanover Police Sergeant Frank Moran said Link will appear in Hanover District Court later this month. A date has yet to be set for Link's arraignment.
Jon Jun '98 and Michael Yoo '98, the room's occupants, discovered the racist graffiti on Jan. 14 and reported it to Hanover Police the next day.
The College has sanctioned Link for violating regulations concerning vandalism and intoxication, according to a letter to the Dartmouth community from Dean of the College Lee Pelton.
Moran said Link's behavior is not protected by his First Amendment right to free speech.
"Under certain circumstances you do have a right" to free speech, Moran said. But "you can't walk up to me as a person and insult me with derogatory words ... likely to cause an ordinary person to flip out."
"To write it down is no different," Moran said.
Moran said Link is not a suspect in the second incident of racial graffiti, which was discovered early yesterday morning on the door of an apartment above Murphy's Tavern.
Disorderly conduct is punishable by up to $1,000 in fines, Moran said.
Pelton said Link sent a letter of apology to the two victims.
Yoo described the letter at last night's discussion with Pelton.
Yoo said Link said in the letter that he was "drunk and angry because he thought ... we'd been messing with his toiletries."
The letter also said Link was angry because he thought Jun and Yoo seldom flushed the public toilet when they used it, Yoo said.
The victims' room in Little Hall was located on the same corridor as Link's. Jun and Yoo have since moved to the Lodge.
