Vandalism and hate speech appear to be a growing concern in today’s current social climate. While it’s easy to see and ignore on a national or global scale, it’s more troubling when the incident happens close to home.
A couple of incidents of vandalism have been seen on campus this year such as the destruction of Martin Luther King Jr. displays and the recent drawing of a swastika in a Res/Rec bathroom.
Kimberly Sluis, the vice president for student affairs and dean of students, called the Res/Rec incident “deeply disappointing and counter to the values and expectations of our campus community,” in a campuswide email. She also reminded the campus that there is a bias incident reporting process and encouraged those who might need support to visit Dyson Wellness Center or to speak to a member of the Student Affairs Department.
But vandalism isn’t new on North Central’s campus.This example is only the latest as incidents like this have occurred throughout the College’s history.
In particular, according to The Chronicle archives, a swastika was drawn on the wall opposite Room 419 in Seager Hall in 1998.
A Raza Unida poster was vandalized with a racial slur directed toward the Hispanic community in March of 2002 in a Ward Hall elevator, said Colleen Marnell in an issue of The Chronicle.
In 2006, the ‘n’ word was written on a dry-erase board on the door room of Carlos Adams, ’08, and Antonio Artis, ’08, in Seybert Hall, according to the archives.
Earlier this year, a black power fist in a display on Black History Month was torn down repeatedly on the third floor of Res/Rec as documented by residence assistant Jordan Patterson. Patterson then took to Facebook where more hate speech ensued in comments on his video.
Contributing reporting by Bob Tomaszewski
