The University of Maryland is taking additional steps to fight hate and increase safety after a fatal stabbing that is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
President Wallace Loh announced Thursday that the school will implement a "pledge for respect and unity" for all students. In the fall, events will be held where students can take the unity pledge, reaffirming "respect for human dignity, diversity, inclusion and academic freedom."
The announcement comes after police say a black Bowie State University student was fatally stabbed by a white Maryland student on campus last month.
Army Lt. Richard Collins III was with friends, waiting for an Uber car to arrive when police say he was confronted and stabbed by Sean Christopher Urbanski. Collins died at age 23, just days from his college graduation.
He was high-achieving, competitive and had a "loving and giving heart," his father previously told News4.
Urbanski was a member of a Facebook group called Alt-Reich Nation that shows "extreme bias against women, Latinos, members of the Jewish faith and especially African Americans," University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell previously said.
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Loh says the school also will clarify the code of student conduct to strengthen hate and bias sanctions.
Last week, Loh announced other efforts to battle hate, including a campus safety task force.
