Grendel's Den is currently under investigation by the Cambridge Licensing Commission after 11 students from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE) signed and sent a letter of complaint to the restaurant, charging the establishment with racial discrimination.

According to the letter, a group of 12 GSE students who went to Grendel's on Jan. 30 were served by a waiter who verbally attacked one of the black men, Marlon L. Davis, in the party.

The group of GSE students was comprised of four black women, three black men, one white man, one white woman, one Asian man, and three Latinas, the letter says.

"The African-American man in our party was accused of being a trouble maker from the previous week, though he had been out of the town for two weeks," the letter reads. "An apology was requested from a man who was identified as the manager. We received no apology. This is not an acceptable response."

Two weeks later, George A. Smith, another black student from the GSE, went to Grendel's with two friends. Neither Smith nor the two women he was with had gone to Grendel's on Jan. 30. They had learned of the incident concerning Davis through mutual friends.

When Smith entered the restaurant, the letter recounts, he was told to leave Grendel's by the same waiter who verbally attacked Davis. When he tried to explain to the waiter and subsequently to another employee that this was a case of mistaken identity, the employees both insisted that he was not welcome there because of the previous event.

"Unfortunately, it seems that a common denominator of these incidents was the case of mistaken identity based on race," the letter submitted by the GSE students reads. "This letter is a formal request of your ownership, management, and wait staff to offer a response."

The letter requests that Grendel's respond to the students through the GSE's Office of Student Affairs.

The group has requested a hearing before the Cambridge License Commission which has the power to revoke the restaurant's common victualer, entertainment and liquor license, according to Richard V. Scali, the Commission's executive director.

"The Commission here doesn't have a lot of jurisdiction over discrimination," Scali said. "We have no powers to grant any monetary rewards to the complainants."

An investigator with the Commission is currently handling the case, interviewing both Grendel's employees and the graduate students. The investigator's report is expected to be made public on April14.

The hearing will most likely take place onApril 28, and a decision should be made on April30, Scali said.

According to Scali, Grendel's has not facedsimilar charges before.

Although the GSE students have thus far onlyappealed to the Licensing Commission, other legalavenues remain open to them. The case could bepresented before the Massachusetts CommissionAgainst Discrimination (MCAD) as well as federaland superior courts, Scali said.

Makeeba McCreary, one of the GSE students whosigned the letter, said the group has notdiscussed whether they will take their complaintto the MCAD if the License Commission dismissestheir allegations. Practical considerations,McCreary said, will probably prevent this fromhappening; the GSE students will graduate in Juneand the waiting list to appear before the MCAD iscurrently at least one year long.

"It's a privilege to hold a liquor license.It's a privilege to serve the Cambridgecommunity," McCreary said. "We just want Grendel'sto realize that they cannot abuse this privilege.

"Ultimately, we would like to see that thisdoesn't happen again," she added. "Money is notgoing to make this any better for any of us. Itwas truly a humiliating experience."

The Incident

An outing to Grendel's on Jan. 30 was supposedto be a relaxing way to kick off the weekend withfriends, said McCreary, who is one of the GSEstudents who was part of Davis's party.

Approximately 13 friends came, and when theyfound themselves without enough chairs foreveryone, Davis tried to take a stool from the bararea.

"I asked the bartender if I could use thestool, and she said OK," Davis said. "Then [a]waiter came up to me and told me they didn't allowthat."

Davis said the waiter then asked him if heunderstood English.

"He told me to either sit down or get the fuckout," Davis said. "Most of my party heard theinteraction. As I was explaining to my party whathappened, he came up to me again and exploded."

According to Davis, the waiter allegedly beganpointing at him and saying, "You are always inhere causing trouble. It's always you."

When Davis tried to find out why the waiter wasso angry at him, the waiter allegedly told Davisto "sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up,"according to Kim Kelly, another GSE student in thegroup.

McCreary and Kelly both said Davis stayed calmwhile the waiter yelled at him.

According to Herbert Kuelzer, the manager andowner of Grendel's, the waiter told him that Daviscalled him an "asshole" twice during the course ofthe evening.

"You could ask the 27 people around if I evenopened the mouth during the alteration. I neveropened my mouth," Davis said. "The only way I cansay this with so much assurance is because 27people watched me sit there and be badgered likean alien."

Kuelzer said Davis had been identified as a"troublemaker" by the bar staff and wait staff.

According to Kuelzer, another table said theyoverheard two of the GSE students say, "Let's triphim," when their waiter walked by balancing twotrays of food.

"[The waiter] was the one abused," Kuelzersaid. "There are some people who treat our serverslike servants. They don't have to be insulted. Idon't know why all the burden is on the waiter."

But Davis said the waiter behaved in anunprofessional and disrespectful manner throughoutthe incident.

"The final insult was when he walked behind meto the cash register and elevated his voice,"Davis said. "The restaurant got quiet. He waspointing at me and yelling about me. I got up andleft. Nobody deserves to be treated that way."

"This waiter was so loud that the whole placegot quiet," McCreary said. "The tables around usjust stared at us. It was such a shockingsituation."

After the incident, Davis walked out of therestaurant and was followed shortly afterwards bythe entire group.

Kuelzer said the "whole table left withoutpaying," but that two students from the group didstay behind when the others leftto pay for their drinks and to apologize for thegroup's behavior.

McCreary and Kelly both said the entire grouppaid for their drinks but sent back the food theyhad ordered. Both women said at least one of thetwo individuals who stayed behind to explain whythey were not paying for the food has signed theletter against Grendel's.

McCreary said she tried to talk to the managerthat evening, but was unsuccessful in solicitingan apology.

Kuelzer said he did not witness the exchangebetween Davis and his waiter and was only calledto the bar when he was told a woman from thegroup, McCreary, wanted to speak with him.

"I met a woman who insisted on an apology. Isaid I wasn't there and would have to hear thewaiter's side of the story first," Kuelzer said.

Round Two

Two weeks later, when Smith went to Grendel's,the same waiter who the GSE students said verballyattacked Davis approached him and said, "You can'tbe in here."

Smith said he had not been with the part of thegroup that had walked out of Grendel's on Jan. 30,although he has previously gone to Grendel's withmembers of that party.

"I instantly knew that he had me confused withthe people from that group," Smith said.

Smith and his party ignored the waiter'swarning and proceeded to sit down.

"[The waiter] never came back. An [employee]came by and told us that we couldn't be there. Istarted to explain the mix-up," Smith said.

At that point, Smith said the second employeetold him that he did not want to listen to anyexplanations. Instead, he covered his ears withhis hands and asked him to leave.

Smith and his party left Grendel's.

Kuelzer said Smith was recognized as someonewho associated with Davis and who had causedproblems at the bar before.

"These people who are going to the School ofEducation have no manners whatsoever," Kuelzersaid. "They don't feel the need to live up to somestandards of behavior."

A Question of Race?

"I can't imagine a restaurant or owner allowingone of their waiters to do something like that,"Smith said. "The waiter certainly has a problemwith Marlon [Davis] and people who he associateswith Marlon. It's discrimination and illtreatment. Whether it's motivated by race, I don'tknow."

McCreary said until she learned of whathappened to Smith she and most other members ofthe group were not sure that the attack on Daviswas racially-motivated.

"Initially, we were all offended that ascustomers we would be treated that way. I don'tthink that anyone was thinking along the lines ofblack and white at that point," McCreary said.

"When it happened with George, we thought itwas another case of mistaken identity," she added."But the question then became: mistaken identitybased on what? The only common denominator wasrace and gender."

Kelly said the case of mistaken identity, whileadmittedly a common mistake, takes on moresignificance in this situation because of Davis'srace as well as the racial composition of theentire group.

"I think besides the fact that Marlin wasblack, it was a more diverse group on the whole,"Kelly said. "The attack was based one something hedidn't do. It's the whole stereotype: he's black;they all look alike; they must all act alike too."

Davis, on the other hand, said he felt from thebeginning that the attack was racially-motivated.According to Davis, at one point the waiter whowas yelling at him started pointing out people atthe table whom he "did not have a problem with."

"He pointed to the non-African Americans in thegroup and said he didn't have a problem withthem," Davis said. "Then he pointed to me and oneother African-American man in the group and saidhe had problems with us."

Kuelzer said the charges of racialdiscrimination are absurd.

"We have had disputes with this one personbefore," Kuelzer said, referring to Davis. "Mywaiters and bartenders know who the troublemakersare."

Kuelzer said that the waiter, who is fromMorocco, has always been well-liked among severalof the restaurant's regular customers. Accordingto Kuelzer, the party seated at the table next tothe GSE party on Jan. 30 has even written lettersto Grendel's supporting the waiter's behavior.

Kuelzer said he could not release copies ofthese letters until he consulted his lawyer.

Both Davis and Smith deny that they have causedproblems in Grendel's before.

"I've never gone in that place and createdhavoc. I've never created any type of problem,"said Smith, who added that he has been toGrendel's a total of six or seven times.

Davis said he did nothing to provoke thealleged verbal attack.

Since the Jan. 30 incident, the group of GSEstudent has not spoken directly to Grendel'smanagement.

Through the Grapevine

Word has gradually spread about the incidentthroughout several of Harvard's graduate schoolsas well as the College as more and moreindividuals are forwarded an e-mail that detailsthe incident.

"It's not a formalized boycott," Kelly said."It's more like here's what happened, and I urgeyou not to go to a place where such treatment isreceived. I feel like [a boycott] could befeasible. There have been a lot of responses tothe e-mail."

While the group is not being officiallyrepresented by an attorney, Kelly's father, who isa lawyer, received a phone call from the attorneyfor Grendel's who said the restaurant would defendthe waiter at the upcoming hearing.

The Office of Student Affairs at the GSE hasalso been notified of both incidents. Accounts ofthe incidents by several of the GSE studentsinvolved are available in the office on AppianWay.

Aware of the fact that the story of these twoincidents have been slowly spreading across theHarvard community, Kuelzer said he feels that hisrestaurant has been wronged.

"Everyone only hears one side of the story.They don't hear how they treated the waiter,"Kuelzer said.CrimsonMatthew P. MillerGrendel's Den, a historic restaurant and barin Harvard Square, has been accused of racialdiscrimination by 11 GSE students.