Stanford University is investigating a possible hate crime after swastikas and a picture of Adolf Hitler were drawn on a whiteboard outside a Jewish student’s dorm, the third such incident in over the past two weeks.
The student discovered the drawings on Friday, the university said. It is the latest of several reported acts of vandalism that included anti-Semitic symbols and language at Stanford this academic year, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole said in a statement.
Brubaker-Cole condemned the incident and called it a “brazen threat to an individual student” on campus.
“We want to be clear: Stanford unreservedly rejects anti-Semitism, racism, hate and related symbols, which are wrong and will not be tolerated,” Brubaker-Cole said.
The university’s public safety department is investigating the incident, which resulted in two reports from students in the dorms. Because the footage could have been used to intimidate the Jewish student, it is being investigated as a possible hate crime and the person responsible could face legal or disciplinary action, the university says .
The student whose dormitory was targeted spoke to the Stanford Daily, the university’s student newspaper, about the vandalism.
“It really makes this living situation quite hostile for me,” said the student, who declined to be identified, fearing harassment. “It’s very disturbing to think that I was in my room sleeping and someone was outside my door doing this.”
Students who live in the dormitory, Florence Moore Hall, will meet on Tuesday to discuss the impact on the community and what steps could be taken to deal with the fallout.
Officials do not believe this incident is related to two hate crimes reported on February 28 and March 3, in which swastikas and hate language were etched into a metal panel and the wall of two men’s bathrooms. .
Both of these incidents have been classified as hate crimes under California’s criminal code, although no suspects have been identified, Stanford officials said.
“Vandalizing property, especially with words intended to threaten and intimidate individuals (specifically in this case, black and Jewish communities) is contrary to Stanford values,” the university said in a statement. “This is absolutely unacceptable in our community.”