During the skit's first several songs, the Bethel University senior stood with his back to the crowd. Then, for the final number, by rapper Lil Wayne, he turned around, exposing his face.

It was painted black.

The May 1 incident drew immediate criticism from minority students on the Arden Hills campus, apologies from the seniors in the skit and an investigation by university officials.

"Here we are in 2010, and still a ton of people don't realize why this might hurt people," said Ruben Rivera, a history professor at Bethel who has been in "constant" conversations with concerned students. Blackface, he said, "is an expression of deliberate and unconscious racism in America."

It has also kindled a conversation about racial sensitivity and could prompt a campus forum on the issue.

"What matters most is how we are educating students on the topics of culture and race so that we're caring in how we interact with each other," said Jeremiah Johnson, student body president.

Bethel is treating the event -- which occurred at an annual "Mr. BU" fundraiser for the student group Acting on AIDS -- as a bias incident, and is investigating. Citing student privacy law, a spokeswoman said she could not comment on the students' cases specifically, but the university's student handbook outlines the response to such incidents.

Among the possible consequences: a behavioral warning, suspension from co-curricular activities and reconciliation.

In an e-mail to all Bethel faculty and undergraduates, the five men who performed the skit said that they had not intended to offend or hurt anyone with their impersonation of Lil Wayne, which also included dreadlocks, gold teeth and baggy pants.

"However, we realize our skit was offensive and hurtful," the e-mail continued. "We are saddened by the fact that we caused pain and offense to our brothers and sisters."

'Ignorance not an excuse'

But some students say that the e-mail isn't enough.

"It's easy to play the role of, 'We didn't know, and we're sorry,'" said David Kim, a freshman studying business, entrepreneurship and reconciliation. "People should know what blackface is, and ignorance is not an excuse."

Kim believes the university needs to issue a statement that blackface is unacceptable, hold a campuswide forum to discuss the incident and then take a deep look at the curriculum. Perhaps all freshmen should be required to take one or several courses that address race, he said, such as "Social Inequality" or "Issues of Power and Privilege in the U.S."

"I won't be satisfied with a response that does not include broad, campuswide education," Kim said.

Faculty members are discussing the same thing, Rivera said.

"If you're in certain fields -- say, mathematics, chemistry, business, computer science -- you can walk the line in this school and never have engaged with the curriculum that address these issues," he said.

"A lot of faculty are asking: What are we not doing? And what can we do better?"

In 2007, Macalester College in St. Paul censured a student for attending a campus house party wearing blackface and a noose around his neck, accompanied by a student dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member. That same year, Hamline University, also in St. Paul, suspended six players from its football team for donning blackface and body paint to impersonate African tribesmen for an off-campus Halloween party.

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168