Posted on 05/10/23
| News Source: The Review
An incident in Memorial Hall on Monday in which a swastika was drawn on a poster is greatly disturbing university faculty.
Faculty in the English department were notified yesterday that a swastika was drawn on a poster outside of a Jewish professor’s office. The phrase “We Are Everywhere” was also written on the poster, which hung on that professor’s door in Memorial Hall, according to an email received by faculty from John Ernest, the chair of the English department.
The poster was subsequently taken down and university police were contacted regarding the incident, per the email.
The Kristol Hillel Center at the university released a statement Tuesday to condemn the targeted hate speech at the Jewish professor. In the release, Donna Schwartz, the executive director, said a task force will gather to address the recent increase in hate speech on campus.
According to UDPD Chief Patrick Ogden, the investigation has been assigned to the Criminal Investigations Unit, and it is being looked into as a potential hate crime. UDPD is in the process of talking to witnesses and surveying camera footage.
“We don’t have cameras at the actual inside of Memorial Hall, but we do have cameras on the outside,” Ogden said. “A lot of these things take time to be very thorough and methodical in the investigation. It’s being actively investigated right now, but we’re not at the point where we have a suspect that we’re tracking.”
Monday’s vandalism is yet another concerning case of antisemitic actions on campus in recent years. Last November, a swastika was found drawn in a residence hall on campus. In August of 2020, the Chabad Center for Jewish Life, located on South College Avenue, was intentionally set on fire. That targeted attack sent shockwaves throughout the community, and the center was able to raise over half a million dollars in efforts to rebuild the university Chabad house.
But with recurring episodes of hate speech in and around the community, along with a national uptick in antisemitism, there is a palpable sense of worry held by students, especially those of the Jewish and LGTBQ+ communities.