The Muslim prayer room located in the basement of Copley was vandalized sometime between last Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. A heavy antique pillar was found pushed onto the floor and the carpet used for prayer was found crumpled on the floor of the prayer room.
Director of the Department of Public Safety William Tucker said at a meeting on Monday that DPS received its first report of the incident at 6:23 p.m on Saturday. Tucker said that this first individual called DPS and reported finding the room in disarray. The person reported not seeing anyone at the time when he discovered the room had been vandalized.
A second individual reported the incident to DPS at 7:42 p.m. on the same night. This report included movement to the prayer carpet and damage to the pillar. Tucker said that this person reported having seen a male wearing gray basketball shorts and a T-shirt walking down the hallway at the time that he discovered the vandalism.
Tucker said that both individuals who reported the vandalism said they did not feel threatened as Muslim students at Georgetown prior to the incident.
DPS officers were called to investigate the prayer room, said Tucker, and DPS is continuing its investigation by interviewing all of its officers who were on duty on Friday and Saturday. Tucker said DPS also wants to interview all the individuals who had entered the prayer room between Friday night and the time of the first report on Saturday.
A large piece of the pillar was found missing after the incident. Muslim student Laila Al-Arian (CAS ‘03) said that the pillar was chipped before the incident, but they are unsure if the additional damage is from the vandalism. Al-Arian added that the pillar is too heavy to be moved by one person alone.
“We ought to preserve the places of prayer for all of our students,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Juan Gonzalez. “We as an institution need to be righteous in fighting against acts of prejudice … I guarantee that we don’t take these things lightly,” said Gonzalez.
President of the Muslim Students Association Owais Balti (MSB ‘04) said that the MSA plans to publicize the incident as much as possible. “We will take whatever actions necessary to let the Georgetown community know,” said Balti. “I hope that [the incident] was not a hate crime … We don’t want students to feel threatened,” he said.
A prayer vigil was held on Tuesday night to unite students against the vandalism. A crowd of approximately 150 people gathered in Red Square at 9:30 p.m., including members of the MSA, the Jewish Students Association and the Catholic Students Association.
“We are here to promote diversity and justice,” said Imam Hendi. “We are here to stand up for the liberty of every student on this campus … I hope that we all work together … although we all disagree, we all respect one another,” he said.
Balti said that he hoped that the incident would bring together the Georgetown community. “I know that together if we stand tall … we’ll increase the diversity and tolerance on this campus,” Balti said.
Founding members of the Georgetown Unity Coalition Steve Glickman (CAS ‘02) and Aaron Polkey (CAS ‘02) spoke at the vigil, expressing their support for the Muslim community. “We formed the Unity Coalition so that no one needs to stand alone,” Glickman said.
The Unity Coalition was formed last year in response to the vandalization of the JSA menorah and the racial and homophobic slurs that appeared on campus last school year.
