News-Record.com

RALEIGH (AP) — An apology by an N.C. State student for painting racially charged graffiti at the school's free expression tunnel in Raleigh is only the beginning of the healing process, the president of the state NAACP said today.

The student, who remains unidentified, said in a statement on the school's Web site that he regretted the fallout from the disparaging remarks he painted on campus about president-elect Barack Obama in the hours following his historic victory.

The tunnel, built in 1939 and donated to free speech in the 1960s, was painted white after reports came out about the comments. One reportedly said "Let's shoot that (N-word) in the head."

"My intentions were simply to express my views on the outcome of the election, but went too far," the student stated. "I am very sorry for my actions and for the anger and fear brought to NC State. I am also ashamed of the bad light spread on this prestigious university."

The three other students expressed remorse in a written statement released by a school spokesman Wednesday. (Read the statement here.)

"There's a deeper issue here," said NAACP President Rev. William Barber. "Is this free speech, or is this hate speech? We need to clearly define that. Otherwise we have opened this up where you could say this about anyone, anywhere ... then simply apologize after the damage has been done."

Chancellor James Oblinger said the student who accepted primary responsibility will participate in diversity training and will be assigned community service.

In a meeting last week with Oblinger, Barber said he outlined five demands for handling the incident. Those included expulsion of the four students, clearly defining hate speech and including diversity and race courses in the curriculum.

He said more should be done than letting the responsible parties off with a "slap on the wrist."