Felony charge filed after Grinnell College student punched, called anti-gay slur

A Durant, Iowa man is facing felony charges after allegedly assaulting a first-year Grinnell College student at an on-campus party and calling him an anti-gay slur on the night of Nov. 2.

Kenya Taylor `28, who is a gay, Black man, said he was kicked in the back, chased into a corner and punched in the mouth by the alleged perpetrator, Noah Grage, 19. Hours earlier, Taylor said Grage called him a “fairy f****t.” In a phone interview with The S&B, Grage admitted to punching Taylor and using the slur. Taylor was later taken to the hospital with facial injuries, including a missing tooth knocked out by the punch. 

Grage, who does not attend Grinnell College, said he was invited to campus by a College student he met online. Throughout the course of events, Grage was accompanied by another non-Grinnell College student, who witnesses and Grage identified by the name Donovan. Grage and Donovan were both trespassed and escorted off campus by Campus Safety, according to Director of Campus Safety James Shropshire. Taylor told the police on Nov. 7 that he is seeking criminal charges only against Grage. Police Chief Michael McClelland confirmed that Grage is facing a Class D felony aggravated assault charge. If convicted, Grage could face up to five years in prison. The charge was filed on Nov. 9.

“Even though the school had told me that if they come back that they’re gonna be arrested for trespassing, still, that’s not enough,” Taylor said of the two individuals.

Grage said it was “fully reasonable” that Taylor is seeking criminal charges against him. “I mean, I hit the guy, I guess,” Grage told The S&B. “I can’t say that I would do the same, but it makes sense.” 

After the incident, emergency responders from the Grinnell Fire Department took Taylor to the Grinnell Regional Medical Center emergency room. Taylor’s bottom left incisor was knocked out and the thin tissue connecting his gums and bottom lip was torn by the punch, leaving his bottom lip protruding, he said. The lack of dental care under the College’s United Healthcare insurance plan, which Taylor said he currently holds, means his insurance would not cover the cost of replacing a tooth. Taylor’s three other front bottom teeth remain loose.

The alleged assault took place in Gardner Lounge, in the basement of Main Hall. Only Grage hit Taylor, according to Grage, Taylor and witnesses. A witness gave The S&B a photo and video of Grage and Donovan leaving the basement of Main Hall. According to the timestamp on the video, the two left at 11:12 p.m. through the door beside the elevator.

Campus Safety officers were already on the scene assisting an intoxicated student, Shropshire wrote in an email to The S&B.

“One of the responding officers heard a commotion and noticed a student being struck by one of the non-students,” Shropshire wrote. “The two non-students ran away.” Shropshire added that the responding Campus Safety officers then called the GPD to report the alleged assault. 

Shropshire declined to provide the names of the responding officers. 

The call to the GPD from Campus Safety took place at 11:18 p.m., Police Chief Michael McClelland said. That call was six minutes after Grage and Donovan left the basement of Main Hall, according to the video provided to The S&B. Police and fire were then dispatched to Mears Cottage, where Campus Safety had taken Taylor.

Matilda Lindman `28, a friend of Taylor’s, got a call from Taylor at 12:33 a.m. on Nov. 3 asking if she would come to the hospital. Lindman said she got a ride from Campus Safety and arrived at the hospital around 1 a.m. Taylor was discharged around 2 a.m.

“He was very out of it, and his lip was very bruised,” Lindman said of Taylor’s state at the hospital. “Lids very half-closed, and that was scary. He gave very short responses that were drawn out.”

Grage and Donovan were later spotted near Haines Hall by Wesley Carne `27 and Soren Sandberg `27, who gave The S&B two photos of Grage and Donovan outside Haines Hall. Carne said he had seen the two earlier at an off-campus party at 1015 High Street sometime around 1 a.m.

Carne and Sandberg said Grage had admitted to them outside of Haines Hall that he was involved in the alleged assault. At 3:28 a.m., after interacting with Grage and Donovan, Carne called Campus Safety to tell officers of Grage and Donovan’s location. 

In the hours between Campus Safety’s call to GPD and Carne’s call to Campus Safety, Campus Safety had been conducting regular patrols of campus, according to Shropshire.

“We were aware of the description of the two ‘suspects’ and were on the lookout, but did not notice them on campus property while conducting our regular duties,” Shropshire wrote.

The student who invited Grage to Grinnell on Nov. 2 also invited Grage to Grinnell on Oct. 5 for 10/10, an annual all-day off-campus party where students day drink. Taylor first met Grage and Donovan during this party. 

The S&B agreed to grant anonymity to the student who invited Grage, who feared her safety would be compromised by the publication of her name. 

The student who invited Grage to campus, who was also at the party on Nov. 2 with Grage, said she saw Grage and Donovan following Taylor, and that she “thought the best case thing to do was leave because there was no stopping them.” She said she left Gardner Lounge with another non-student individual who witnesses say was not involved in the alleged assault.  

The police breathalyzed both Grage and Donovan after checking their IDs and questioning them, the student said. At around 4:20 a.m., after the police released Grage and Donovan, she received a call from Grage asking her to tell the non-student individual to come meet him and Donovan so they could drive home.

Taylor said that he asked the Grinnell police officers who responded to Campus Safety’s call whether Grage and Donovan would be charged with a hate crime.   

“We haven’t been able to, from our investigation, prove that it was a hate crime,” Chief McClelland told The S&B on Nov. 6. “We want to file it as an assault.” McClelland added that, at the time The S&B spoke to him, the police only had Taylor’s statement to confirm the slur said to him.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6, four days after the alleged assault, Marc Reed, vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and chief diversity officer, sent an email alerting the campus to the alleged assault that happened on Saturday. Reed wrote that The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs, is currently investigating and responding to the reported bias-motivated assault on campus that took place on Nov. 2. Taylor said he was consulted on the wording of the email.

In response to an S&B inquiry regarding the safety measures that Campus Safety will implement to prevent similar events, Shropshire did not provide specific measures. 

“I think that thoughtful reflection is something we do well as a College and we will do so with this incident,” Shropshire wrote in an email to The S&B. 

Ellen de Graffenreid, vice president of marketing and communications, told The S&B in an email that the College has reached out to Taylor and offered multiple kinds of support, both at the time of the alleged assault and in the following days. The Bias Incident Response Team is following up on reports associated with this incident, according to de Graffenreid.

“I just thought coming here [to Grinnell], I would get a new, clean slate, and not have to deal with those problems anymore, because I moved so far,” Taylor, who is from New York City, said.

In a statement to The S&B, Grinnell Queer People of Color (QPOC) cabinet members tied this incident to a larger political climate that is intolerant towards queer and BIPOC students. “The fact of the matter is that QPOC students are not safe on campus for the time being,” they wrote. “Who can guarantee our safety?”

This story has been updated on Thursay, Nov. 14 to reflect the filing of a Class D felony charge against Grage.