Purchase pulls student's TV show.

A PURCHASE COLLEGE (N.Y.) STUDENT CAUSED AN UPROAR ON CAMPUS BY APPEARING on the college's student-run, closed-circuit TV channel in blackface. In published articles, he said his goal was to make fun of another student host who had made fun of him by calling him a loser and "gay." The student and his guests aired comments that included "violent chauvinism, jaw-droppingly racist attitudes, rampant homophobia, and even raging anti-Semitism," according to a description in the student newspaper. The student government responded by canceling all new programming on the channel until formal standards could be created. Purchase President Thomas Schwarz released a statement saying he did not want to shut down the station entirely, or be a censor, but "PTV must be responsibly operated,"

Blackface regularly turns up on campuses, usually as part of misguided Halloween costumes, according to reports on www.tolerance.org, which offers advice on how to deal with incidents. Purchase administration held a series of teach-ins covering racism, sexism, homophobia, censorship, and the limits of free speech.