Black student security officer Deantrious Mitchell said race was not a causing factor in an Oct. 18 assault that left him cut and battered.

Mitchell, speaking out for the first time since the assault, said his race was used by his assailants to provoke him.

The incident was started, he said, because the assailants did not like him asking about alcohol as part of his job as a security officer.

“I think that it happened because I was a student security officer, and they said those things because they wanted to provoke me,” he said. “I don’t think it was racially motivated. I think it happened because I was questioning their alcohol.”

In addition, Mitchell said Iowa’s Department of Criminal Investigation is involved in the investigation.

Mitchell received an anonymous threatening note under his door, he said. Mitchell said DCI wants him to take a polygraph test to help determine if he placed the note there himself.

“They want me to take a polygraph test because they thought that I was the one that sent a threatening note under my door. I realized that this is not helping my studying, and I feel like I’m nothing but a pawn so the various groups can get their point across,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell, a 20-year-old sophomore in computer science from Waterloo, was reportedly assaulted by a group of white individuals at about 2 a.m. Oct. 18. He was beaten and cut after he approached the group on Clyde Williams Field and asked for identification, officials said. One man was reportedly drinking alcohol.

The attackers shouted racial slurs at Mitchell. In more than one instance, the word “nigger” was used, officials said.

Mitchell will go back to work with the student security service Thursday.

John Tinker, Department of Public Safety investigative services officer, said Mitchell has the right to speak publicly about the assault. Tinker had no comment on anything concerning the investigation except to say DPS has canvassed the Union Drive Association halls after the incident. “We’ve talked to as many people as we could locate.”

He added, “It’s premature to assume anything. It always is in any investigation …We’ve submitted evidence to the state crime lab.”

Bev Uhlenhake, program adviser for student security, said security officials regularly review the security system, but for some time have been wanting to “sit down and really evaluate the program.”

She said they have extensive programs in security procedures and self-defense. Most people view student security as helpful, she said, but, “I also realize that some people see the confrontation.”

Mitchell said his views about the media have changed after what has been written about the incident. He is trying to put this all behind him and get on with his education, he said.

“More happened that night than the university wants to know,” he said. “I got cut, but I did not get beat up, and I did not get this savage beating.”

Murray Blackwelder, vice president for external affairs, said the incident has given Iowa State a black eye.

“We are working to see that this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Blackwelder said university officials are trying to reach out to minority students. For starters, he is trying to bring a barber shop which caters to African Americans to Ames and get Black Entertainment Television on the Ames cable package.

He said he is also dedicating much of his time to getting dialogue going for new ideas and projects which might make Ames and ISU more friendly to minorities.