IUPUI says sorry to janitor scolded over KKK book

The Indianapolis Star couldn't be bothered about this national story, so it was up to an Associated Press reporter to write the coda:

"A janitor whom a university official had accused of racial harassment for reading a historical book (pictured, left) about the Ku Klux Klan on his break has gotten an apology — months later — from the school," reports Deanna Martin, Associated Press Writer.

"Charles Bantz, chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, apologized to Keith John Sampson in a letter dated Friday, saying the school is committed to free expression.

"'I can candidly say that we regret this situation took place,' Bantz wrote.

"Sampson's troubles began last year when a co-worker complained after seeing him reading a book titled Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan.....

"Bantz didn't apologize to Sampson until last week, after a column in The Wall Street Journal sparked renewed criticism. Bantz also wrote to the others involved in the incident, including the co-worker who filed the complaint, said IUPUI spokesman Rich Schneider.

"'The sentiment the chancellor was expressing in all of the letters was that this whole matter could have and should have been handled differently,' he said.

"Sampson, who still works for the school, said that he accepts the university's apology but that he was hurt by the allegations and has not enjoyed being in the spotlight.

"'It's really frustrating for me because I am not the kind of person that they were painting me as,' he said."

Read it all here.

Note: an interesting bit of news, buried in the story, is the information that IUPUI's affirmative action officer (Lillian Charleston), the one who found Sampson "guilty" in the first place, has retired! This Indianapolis Observer hopes she was "asked" to retire!