Racist graffiti marks the UW campus for second time this year
Racist slurs and swastikas were found scrawled throughout the Communications Building last week. In all, the culprit hit six different areas of the building.
The racist and inflammatory graffiti was quickly removed, but it marks the second known time this year someone has used a marker to write racist symbols. The first time, the target was a Jewish student in Haggett Hall; this time, the targets are believed to be Jewish and African-American staff and faculty members whose offices are in the Communications Building.
There is no evidence that the two incidents are tied together, but according to UWPD Cmdr. Steve Rittereiser the slurs and swastikas the vandals used in both incidents were consistent with the type of language white supremacists use.
Communications Department Chair David Domke said the graffiti was originally noticed last Tuesday evening. The following morning, a staff member reported it to UWPD after finding a large swastika drawn on an office door.
When police officers investigated, they found more swastikas drawn in an elevator and on a wall, racist slurs on a stairwell window and door, and the words “whites only” written on a stairwell door and bench.
Ansel Herz, a program operations specialist whose office door was targeted, said he was shocked to see the swastika on his door when he arrived to work that morning.
“I was taken aback and kind of dumbfounded,” Herz said. “I didn’t have any inkling that something like that was going to happen during my time here at UW.”
Later that day, after Herz said he was able to think about what had happened, he posted a message on Twitter: “To whoever drew the swastika I found on my office door this morning: You don’t scare me.”
Herz said that although he has no idea if he was specifically targeted, the UWPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime since his surname is common among Germans of Jewish heritage.
“Maybe they saw my name and that’s why they drew this kind of large swastika on my door,” Herz said. “I think it’s kind of sad and pathetic.”
Domke said that, although he doesn’t want to give more attention to the incident than it deserves, he also wants to make it clear where his department stands.
“This is unacceptable,” Domke said. “It’s gutless that somebody would do this and run. We are a place where people of all backgrounds are embraced. This type of act only affirms our commitment. … This is a place where all are welcome and always will be.”
Luis Fraga, associate vice provost for faculty advancement and the director of the UW Diversity Research Institute, said that even isolated incidents of this type should be examined.
“It can be an indication of an individual or small group of individuals that have a particular point of view,” Fraga said. “Or, one can interpret it as reflective of a larger set of concerns that still exist in our society.”
Fraga said one of the major challenges facing colleges today is providing a supportive climate to faculty members who do diversity work. Even though he believes the UW has committed itself in many different ways to supporting diversity, Fraga said that “instances like this where faculty feel attacked” do not help.
“The institution’s response to these incidences is extremely important in contributing to the way in which the faculty member understands the value that he or she has at the institution,” Fraga said. “So it’s important for institutions to respond to indicate that this sort of behavior is not acceptable and not within the values of the institution. … So the institution has to make some judgments as to how it will respond.”
So far, the only visible response has been to clean up the graffiti.
Jess Gonzalez, a senior majoring in history and Latin American and Caribbean studies, said the slurs offend her, and that cleaning up the graffiti isn’t enough.
“They can’t just take it down immediately and pretend it didn’t happen,” Gonzalez said. “That doesn’t address the bigger issue, and that’s that racism and prejudice are still a major problem. Not just here, but everywhere. … Sweeping this under the rug is really missing out on a critical opportunity to educate, and that’s what we’re here for.”
No suspects have been identified, and the UWPD is conducting an investigation. Anyone with information can reach UWPD at 206-685-8973.
Reach reporter Jimmy Lovaas at news@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @JimLovaas
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