Baker Hall was the location of homophobic and anti-Semitic incidents last week.
A homophobic slur was carved into a bathroom stall door in Baker’s second floor men’s bathroom last Tuesday. According to a Facebook post from a student with knowledge of the incident, “f— freshmen f-gs” was carved into the stall door.
An incident was also reported to University of Massachusetts Police Department the following day regarding a swastika discovered on a door outside of a residential assistant’s room. According to Mary Detloff, deputy director of UMass News and Media Relations, UMPD removed the sign and collected it as evidence. Officers interviewed residents around the room to see if they had any information, which they did not.
“UMass Amherst rejects acts of hate and engages in many ways to provide a safe and inclusive campus environment,” Detloff said in a statement. “We act promptly to investigate reports of hate, provide support for individuals and groups who may be targeted and have strengthened campus security. A range of community engagement and educational work is under way to combat hateful acts that, sadly, have become all too commonplace nationwide. A summary of steps taken recently can be found in detail at https://www.umass.edu/diversity/summary-actions-taken.”
An email from Baker, Chadbourne and Greenough Hall Residence Director Thomas Peckenpaugh was sent out to Baker residents informing them about the incident and offering support through a meeting last Wednesday in Baker Hall.
Earlier in the semester, a student’s door was vandalized with a swastika and homophobic and transphobic slurs in John Quincy Adams Hall, according to a statement from Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy that was emailed to students on Nov. 13.
Several racist incidents have also occurred on campus this semester. UMPD received an anonymous tip of an “agitated Black male” walking into Whitmore Administration Building early in September, but Reginald Andrade, an employee of the University for 14 years, was simply walking to work.
Melville Hall has specifically been a target, with several incidents taking place in the Southwest Residential Area dormitory. These incidents included a bathroom wall defaced with “hang Melville n——” and a racial slur written on a poster denouncing racism. Flyers were also spotted throughout campus in November for “Identity Evropa,” a white nationalist group designed to recruit college-aged men.
Kyle DaLuz can be reached at [email protected].
NITZAKHON • Feb 11, 2019 at 5:39 am
@Liz:
As a Jew, a Swastika is a horrible thing to see.
But given the scads of documented faked “hate crimes” I’m skeptical. Black people have faked hate crimes. Hispanics have. Muslims have. Gays have. My fellow Jews have.
The list of faked hate crimes is so long, and ever-growing, at this point I don’t trust any report at face value.
Liz • Dec 12, 2018 at 10:00 am
Hi Amy, I wanted to take a second to respond to your comment.
I frequently read the lovely Daily Collegian and noticed that you comment on many of the articles they post. I think it’s great that you feel comfortable sharing your opinion in a public space.
However, in this article, it states that in addition to the slur found in the bathroom, a swastika was also found on the door of a RA’s room, which contributed to the overall shockingness of the two situations happening back to back. In the future, it would be a good idea to read the whole article to understand what happened, before you just blatantly pick and choose information from it in an effort to try and be controversial.
amy • Dec 11, 2018 at 7:54 am
Wow that’s it , the word fag was used. Can I write that it or will it be censored?
Gay people call themselves that all the time. This is America, there is nothing illegal about writing fag . 90 percent of the time this word is used without any negative reference to homosexuals. In the instance it is, is it wrong, hurtful, etc, sure it is.
But this is the united states, we attend a college as adults and not children. The university needs to start respecting the first amendment and students on campus need to start acting like adults.