(JEWISH GROUP) NYU investigating Dibner Library graffiti as hate crime
NYU is investigating graffiti found in a study room at Dibner Library as a hate crime after online groups drew attention to its anti-Black, anti-Indian and antisemitic rhetoric.
Campus Safety head Fountain Walker said in a Wednesday email that the New York City Police Department deemed the incident a hate crime after responding to the scene at NYU’s Brooklyn campus. He added that students responsible for the graffiti — which included profanities toward Indian people and Jewish people, the N-word slur and a swastika — will be subject to “the full weight” of NYU’s disciplinary actions.
“The abhorrent graffiti included hateful rhetoric directed at Blacks, hateful rhetoric directed at Indians and hateful antisemitic rhetoric,” Walker wrote. “Our Department of Campus Safety, in conjunction with our Title VI coordinator, is vigorously investigating this incident.”
Walker did not specify when the graffiti was reported to Campus Safety.
The graffiti first circulated through a joint Tuesday Instagram post by the national and NYU branches of Jewish on Campus, which detailed the derogatory remarks against Jewish people and has since garnered over 1,000 likes. CAS junior and co-president of NYU’s chapter of JOC, Daniela Dreifach, said in an interview with WSN that although the incident was “alarming,” she appreciated the administration’s efforts to “ensure Jewish students are safe and heard.”
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