waltham, mass. (jta) | A racial slur that appeared in Brandeis University’s student newspaper has led to the resignation of five of the paper’s editors, including the editor in chief.

In a column in the Brandeis Justice, Dan Passner referred to Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who is black, by quoting another Brandeis student: “The only thing Baker has a Ph.D. in is something that starts with an N and rhymes with Tigger, the cheerful scamp who stole all of our hearts in the ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ series.”

The student who allegedly was quoted denied making the statement.

The column and subsequent resignations have raised the issue of minority students at Brandeis, which was founded in 1948

by American Jews and is named after the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice. About half of the students at the Boston-area school are Jewish, according to Dennis Nealon, Brandeis’ director of media

relations.

The offending issue of the Justice, which is independent of the school administration, first was printed online and then hit newsstands on Oct. 21, generating anger, shock, sadness and disbelief across the campus.

The president’s office and the student union issued condemnations.

The Justice’s editorial staff held a forum to discuss race relations on campus. Representatives of the Brandeis Black Student Organization attended, but they walked out because they felt their demands were not being met.