The Department of Public Safety has identified a student allegedly responsible for at least one of the bias-related incidents that occurred over the weekend, the Office of Communications reported this afternoon.
Four students in two dorm rooms were the victims of bias-related incidents in New South Hall on Sept. 6 and 11. The perpetrators drew swastikas and wrote “Hitler” on the victims’ dry-erase boards. A similar incident occurred in Darnall Hall last weekend, according to the Department of Public Safety.
New South Hall was shaken by anti-Semitic drawings on two floors.
DPS told members of the Jewish Students Association that a number of the residents on whose doors the offensive graffiti was found were not Jewish, according to Eric Hoerger (SFS ‘12), vice president of social affairs for JSA.
Jesse Mirotznik (SFS ‘12), co-president of JSA, said that the group does not believe that the incidents represent a serious threat to the Jewish community.
“While it is undeniably difficult to pre-empt such bizarre and hurtful incidents, we do believe the University and its administration take such issues very seriously, and are proactively trying to prevent similar bias-related incidents into the future,” Mirotznik wrote in an email.
DPS had been collaborating with the Metropolitan Police Department, according to a joint email from Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson, University Safety Vice President Rocco DelMonaco, and Kevin O’Brien, S.J., executive director of Campus Ministry.
Representatives from Residence Life, DPS, and each of the University’s chaplaincies convened a town hall-style meeting at Village C Alumni Lounge on Tuesday night to address community concerns.
“This is very much the kind of behavior that is a threat to the values that we hold as a community,” Olson said. “We find it very troubling.”
Olson added that DPS, resident advisors, and University chaplains had followed up with the victims of each incident.
“Incidents such as these that affect one community touch all communities,” O’Brien said.
