Racially charged graffiti discovered at SUNY-ESF’s Centennial Hall
Racially charged graffiti reported at SUNY-ESF
Over the weekend, two instances of racially charged graffiti were found written on white boards in Centennial Hall at SUNY-ESF. On Saturday, the school released a bias incident notification promising that the university will “do whatever we can to protect the safety and well-being of every member of our community.”
According to the notification, news of the acts were spread via social media. ESF University Police were able to identify an alleged perpetrator who has been suspended and removed from campus as the investigation continues. SUNY-ESF promised to provide updates on the investigation to the campus community.
“Any additional individuals found to be responsible will face serious consequences,” according to the incident report on the ESF website.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded to the incidents in a tweet, “These hateful messages are disgusting. As New Yorkers and as Americans, we must all condemn the sickening rise in hate happening in our country. We are better than this.”
These hateful messages are disgusting. As New Yorkers and as Americans, we must all condemn the sickening rise in hate happening in our country.
We are better than this.
I'm grateful for the ESF administration's speedy response. https://t.co/9tCSDqyTzV
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) February 9, 2020
The governor also complimented SUNY-ESF for its speedy response, which is something SU has been criticized for.
On Friday, #NOTAGAINSU posted a statement reflecting on the incidents that came with the start of the new semester. They are still upset with the university’s response to bias related incidents. They claim that the university has yet to condemn the acts as hate crimes and are using the incidents to increase university policing, which was not in the movement’s list of demands for SU administrators.
is a newspaper and online journalism and political philosophy junior. He is a digital producer for The NewsHouse. He is also in Army ROTC.
