Davidson College investigating racist, antisemitic chalkboard image of Hitler and slur

Davidson College is investigating who drew a racist and antisemitic image on a blackboard in an outdoor classroom over the weekend.

College officials, including President Doug Hicks, called the image a “threatening act,” and Davidson College Campus Police are stepping up their presence — adding patrols around outdoor classrooms, for example — to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. The private liberal arts college is making teams from the Center of Student Diversity and Inclusion, Chaplain’s Office and counselors available to students.

The vandalism involved a blackboard near the Alvarez College Union with slurs, swastikas, a drawing of Hitler in chalk and a handwritten message about killing “Jews and n*******.”

“We will support the members of our community who feel targeted,” college officials said in a news release also posted to the college’s Instagram page. “At Davidson, all of us are called to honor the dignity and worth of every person. We value religious and racial diversity and inclusion, while we deplore racism and bigotry and advocate for a more just world.”

Jay Pfeifer, Davidson’s director of media relations, told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday that Davidson’s campus is open to the community and has a handful of outdoor classrooms that anyone has access to.

Pfeifer confirmed there was a concert on campus Friday evening — rapper Rico Nasty performed — that was open to the community. Pfeifer would not elaborate on any other details of the ongoing investigation.

Clyde Dwyer, a Davidson College sophomore and member of the Jewish Student Union, told the Observer he feels “angry and disgusted” over the graffiti.

“As a Jew, I feel threatened and unsafe knowing that such violent hate exists in the Davidson community,” Dwyer said. “It is particularly upsetting that this incident comes at a time when the college seems to have been making progress in addressing its historical mistreatment of minority groups and its role in slavery.” Davidson has apologized for its history, which involved enslaved people making bricks for the college’s original buildings, and announced a memorial in their honor.

Dwyer says Davidson College “has an obligation to hold whoever did this accountable in a way that ensures Jewish and Black students feel safe and respected on campus.”

Tair Giudice, the chief impact officer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, issued a statement Thursday saying she was “deeply disturbed” by the college’s finding.

“We commend Davidson College for swiftly condemning this incident and working to investigate it further,” Giudice said. “As antisemitism is on the rise in North Carolina, we encourage our community to continue to speak out against all forms of hate. Federation is working closely with local Jewish clergy to address this incident and to ensure that Jewish students feel safe on campus.”

It ‘came out of nowhere’

Antisemitic incidents are on the rise across North Carolina, according to results of the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit released in March.

The league reported 39 antisemitic incidents across the state last year, up from 30 in 2021. The number of incidents in 2022 marks a 200% increase from the 13 incidents logged in 2020.

Tair Giudice, who works for the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, told the Observer in March the majority of recent incidents occurred in K-12 schools. There are around 15,000 Jewish Charlotteans out of 870,000 Charlotte residents, according to Jewish Heritage North Carolina.

The Southern Poverty Law Center said Federal Bureau of Investigation data show a 27% increase in hate crimes from 2020 to 2021, and a significant number of those crimes were against Black people.

Last week, a student at Lake Norman High School was disciplined after posting a racist photo on social media. The photo was shared across social media and included the student in a Lake Norman High graduation robe wearing a “white pointed hat that commonly represents white supremacy,” district officials said. The photo had the caption: “The South will rise again.”

Ethan Rodier, a senior at Davidson College, says he immediately checked on his Jewish friends to make sure they were safe on campus after hearing about the blackboard graffiti.

“The shock factor comes from the fact that it really came out of nowhere,” Rodier said. “The Jewish Student Union has made a lot of progress over the last few years getting the Jewish student body’s presence more recognized and respected on campus. So, because of that, it was hurtful and disappointing to see this.”

Rodier, co-president of the Jewish Student Union, says it’s the first time he’s heard of any serious cases of antisemitism on campus since 2018. That year, two students were accused of making racist and antisemitic posts on social media.

Apologizing for its past

Last month, Davidson College announced plans for a memorial to honor the enslaved and exploited people who helped build the college.

A bronze sculpture — two large, work-worn hands — will sit among four campus buildings fashioned from those bricks in the mid-1800s. The memorial, named “With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited,” has a spring 2025 planned completion date.

It’s part of the college reconciling with its past, Hicks said.

Davidson College apologized in 2020 for supporting slavery during its first 30 years in the 19th century — and for what the college called “its embrace of the racist laws and policies” in subsequent decades, The Observer reported.

The apology followed a two-year examination of the college’s ties to slavery and racist policies by a campus commission headed by Davidson alumnus Anthony Foxx, the former Charlotte mayor and U.S. Secretary of Transportation.