University of the District of Columbia President Ron MasonWhen a student at his university got violently arrested after a woman suspected him and a friend of plotting to rob her at an ATM, University of the District of Columbia (UDC) President Ronald Mason Jr. saw the episode as more than just the latest example of a police encounter gone awry.
“There’s a bigger issue at play here,” Mason told Diverse during a recent interview. “And that’s the relationship between America and Black men in general, and police and Black men in general.”
“I think it’s pretty clear that the there are matters that need to be addressed in that regard,” Mason said. “You can speak on the bigger issues all the time but it’s an issue about America’s relationship with Black men.
“I don’t think (college) presidents should be on the sideline on that issue, whether they’re HBCU presidents or otherwise,” he said.
Mason made the remarks a week after UDC student Jason Goolsby, 18, found himself being tackled after a woman using an ATM called 911 to report that Goolsby and an acquaintance appeared to be looking for someone to rob, news reports state.
Goolsby had held the vestibule door open for the woman, who was pushing a baby stroller, but she left without taking out any money and called 911.
