UConn investigating anti-Semitic graffiti, offensive comments toward LGBTQ community
UConn officials are investigating several recent hate speech and conduct incidents on the Storrs campus, including anti-Semitic graffiti and offensive comments directed at the LGBTQ community.
“Our disappointment is matched only by our concern: Any such attack on students, faculty, or staff members is totally unacceptable and has no place at this University,” UConn President Tom Katsouleas, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Carl Lejuez, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Franklin Tuitt and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Eleanor Daugherty wrote in a letter to students Tuesday.
“We are taking these incidents very seriously, and any violations of the law or the Student Code of Conduct will be answered with disciplinary measures and law enforcement where appropriate,” the school officials said.
University communications show that over the past month, at least two separate incidents took place at the Storrs campus which targeted the LGBTQ community. In mid-March, a residential advisor found images drawn on a dry-erase board in Alumni Hall that “referenced the LGBTQIA+ community in a disparaging manner,” Tuitt and Rainbow Center Director Kelsey O’Neil said. Several days later, an individual driving down North Eagleville Road around 6:30 p.m. yelled a derogatory term out their car window at students, whom the school administrators say they’ve since reached out to to offer support.
The most recent anti-Semitic graffiti discussed by Katsouleas and the other administrators was found on a building near UConn Hillel. Earlier in the semester, Lejuez notified students about a swastika found drawn on the wall of the men’s bathroom in the Biology/Physics building, as well as an anti-Black slur discovered later the same day in that building. A similar series of anti-Semitic and racist property damage took place throughout the fall in South Campus.
“It is distressing to me that a letter like this one is necessary, but it is absolutely urgent for us to make clear to all of our students, faculty, and staff members that you are vital, valued members of the UConn community,” Katsouleas said. “For those who feel distressed or uncertain in the face of incidents of abhorrent conduct, let us be as clear as we can: Hate has no place here.”
Community members who experience or witness hate crimes are encouraged to contact the UConn Police Department, and bias incidents can also be reported online through the Office for Diversity and Inclusion website.
Amanda Blanco can be reached at ablanco@courant.com.
