Racist Graffiti Found in SUNY New Paltz Dormitory Bathroom

NEW PALTZ, NY — Racist, profanity-laced graffiti was found in a woman’s bathroom in a SUNY New Paltz dormitory Thursday.

WARNING: The embedded Facebook post below contains graphic language.

A report on FIOS1 News Friday morning said police were trying to determine who wrote the graffiti in the bathroom in Bouton Hall.

The graffiti included a heart with the word “Trump” next to it, “ISIS is calling! Muslims can leave!,” calling Latino immigrants “stupid” and a derogatory word for African-Americans, along with a twice-repeated expletive.

Students walked out of classes at noon Friday for a rally in which they held signs and chanted “We reject the president-elect.”

President Donald P. Christian issued a statement to students, faculty and staff that said “we condemn hate speech and bias acts in our community and recognize that anytime they occur they harm the entire community.”

Christian encouraged students to seek support through the college’s Psychological Counseling Center and for faculty to check in with students and acknowledge what students might be feeling.

“We must expose these acts to uncover the bias and educate broadly to build solidarity and community again such harm,” Christian wrote.

Two upcoming college events will allow the opportunity for learning and an exchange of perspectives, he said.

A panel discussion and follow-up presentation of a free-speech event will be held Monday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. and a presentation on “The 2016 Election in Historical Perspective,” sponsored by the History Department in collaboration with the Departments of Black Studies and Political Science, will be held Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m.

For more, read the entire message from Christian by clicking here.

Photo credit: Facebook/Lindsay Lennon. Instagram video: Kyra Andrews, used with permission of @bsu.at.np.