Throughout the last couple of weeks, the Wright State University police department has investigated several incidents of hate speech written on bathroom stalls on campus.
The graffiti attacked several different groups of people, and included phrases from, “Black Lives Don’t Matter Here” to “Women are our property” and “Submit as God commands you to.” The graffiti also targeted those of Jewish and Islamic background and those with liberal beliefs.
The locations of these incidents have been a subject of debate. Photos of graffiti have circulated on social media, but there have also been incident reports with no photos. The incident at the Medical Science building has been confirmed.
Other incidents of hate speech were reported at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Millet Hall, the Student Union, and Oelman Hall.
“I don’t think they are fit to be in this community; we will do everything we can to address this behavior to whatever extent is possible under the law and university policy,” said Matthew Boaz, Officer of Equity and Inclusion.
“Many students feel threatened within the organization. Students don’t feel comfortable coming forward because they see that administrators won’t do anything,” said Asia Miller, Vice President of the NAACP student chapter.
After the second incident President Schrader tweeted out an emergency meeting with students to listen to their thoughts. A little less than 100 people attended the meeting, demanding answers and change.
The meeting left many students feeling less than confident. “The school is handling this because it’s vandalism, not because what was written. It’s not reassuring,” said Jasmine Howell, President of Black Women Striving Forward.
“If people feel strongly about what was said, people should actively seek out the black organizations or other organizations that were affected by this,” said Howell.
These incidents are not reflective of the WSU community, according to Boaz.
"This is someone or some people who don’t embrace what we’re truly about and when that happens we have to respond in a way that says we are taking our community back,” Boaz stated. “We heard you. We can do better and we will do better.”
The school is currently working on gathering information through surveys and seeking other solutions. There is an ongoing police investigation of these incidents.
“I want people to know they can come to me,” said Dominique McPaul, Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and International Affairs of the Student Government Association (SGA). “SGA is trying to find ways to remediate on campus.”
