"As a University community, we condemn these reprehensible actions, which conflict with the values and heritage of Boston College," Vice President of Student Affairs Cheryl Presley stated in a University press release, which was released after swastikas were discovered on July 16 in the student spaces, both of which are located in 21 Campanella Way.
The Boston College Police Department has opened an investigation into the incident, which is currently ongoing. The BCPD is also investigating a swastika found in the Commonwealth Avenue garage several weeks later, though officials are not able to determine if the second incident is necessarily related.
"We have put measures in effect to try to [prevent] future hate crimes of this nature," said Dean for Student Development Robert Sherwood. "Such hateful behavior will not be tolerated and if we do apprehend those responsible, very serious action will be taken."
Noelle Green, ALC president and LSOE '07, as well as several ALC members discovered the swastikas in their offices July 16 when they arrived for a meeting.
"We walked in and we had a big to-do list on our dry-erase board and there was this huge blue swastika drawn on it," said Green. "At the time we didn't look anywhere else, but the detectives found another swastika in the [GLBT] Resource Center."
Glue was also found on the printer and numerous computers in the ALC center.
"It's hard because they don't have the time frame down. The time frame we are looking at is three to four days," said Green.
Despite her initially emotional reaction, Green is optimistic, greatly in part because of the University's response: "We wrote a letter to a lot of administrators asking them to support us and recognize that this kind of stuff is going on. Dean Sherwood and Dean O'Keefe have been really supportive and I feel better about it now."
Akinseye Akinbulumo, ALC vice president and A&S '07, shares Green's optimism: "I think Boston College has a lot of closet racists. Finally we can provoke this conversation that people of color have to deal with time and time again. Now maybe white people can see this very blatant symbol of racism that we can all agree upon as being a symbol."
"I'm about having conversations about the current status of this campus. I feel like people don't understand the racist climate that exists," added Akinbulumo.
Harold Hinds, a member of the ALC and CSOM '09, agreed that this event should be used to make the student body more aware of the racism existent at BC.
"We as students need to stand up and say that this is racism, this happened, and we are not going to stand for it. People need to be educated to what real racism is and say there is something I don't like and now that I've seen it I'm going to take a stand."
Sherwood further reiterated the need for education: "I hope all on campus realize that we need to work together to foster a climate of mutual respect."
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