If Garcia can make the case that these attacks were motivated by his sexuality, then the assailant will be charged with a hate crime as well as an assault. Garcia said that the attackers used a series of slurs, including ones defaming Jews, although he said he is not Jewish and only one of the friends who was with him that night is Jewish.

Julien E. Levy ’05, who was walking with Garcia when the incident occurred, said the attacker threatened to follow them to their dorm to make sure that they did not call the police.

“They were drunk,” Levy said Friday night. “They had been drinking—they [just] weren’t drinking enough to be drunk legally.”

Another witness and friend, Daniyom F. Haile ’05, denounced the incident as a hate crime moments after the assault.

“It’s sad that homophobia can still occur in the Harvard community,” he said. “It’s especially sad that it happened on pre-frosh weekend.”

BGLTSA Spokesman Michael A. Feldstein ’07 said that although this is the first reported account of a hate crime on campus this year, it is in no way indicative of the frequency of hate crimes at Harvard.

“This is not anything Harvard is exempt from, nor is it exclusive to Harvard,” said Feldstein, who is also a Crimson editor.

The BGLTSA discussed the issue at its weekly meeting yesterday, and members decided to hold an anti-hate rally tomorrow at noon in front of the Science Center in honor of those who have felt hate in response to their sexual orientation, according to an e-mail sent to House open lists.

“The goal in mind is that people become aware of what happens around them,” he said. “That they are aware, in a place that is supposed to be safe, and that people question that safety.”

—Staff writer Robin M. Peguero can be reached at peguero@fas.harvard.edu.