Newman, during the town hall, tried to clarify that he had tweeted Gordon “to voice support for racial minorities who suffered police violence.” In October 2021, Newman was allowed to join a new GroupMe chat, but he was later banned entirely after a Black student accused him of “passively-aggressively attempting to insult yet another Black person in this GroupMe” due to his comments on Howard’s lack of diversity and inclusion.

When Newman felt his exclusion “was motivated by racial animus,” he decided to file a formal complaint of discrimination with the school, as noted by NBC. An attorney who was hired to look into the situation reportedly concluded that the claim of racial discrimination “could not be substantiated” and closed the case.

White student sues Howard

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