Rutgers Student Finds Swastika Outside Dorm Room

Piscataway, NJ - Rutgers University senior Sara Rosen said her two male roommates put up this symbol in a shared common space of their Livingston Campus student apartment earlier this year. And she said Rutgers University officials dismissed her complaints about it as “a joke gone bad.’”

Neither student was disciplined, nor were they asked to leave campus housing over the symbol, she said.

‘My stomach dropped to the floor’

On Jan. 15, Rosen, who is Jewish, returned back to her dorm after going to the gym. She said she flipped on the light, and her heart “started pounding” when she saw the giant swastika taped on the ceiling of the living room, right outside her bedroom door.

“My stomach felt like it dropped to the floor,” Rosen, 21, told Patch.

Rosen said she immediately called 911, and campus police and a resident associate arrived. After first hiding from the resident associate, one of her roommates ultimately admitted to putting up the symbol, but said it was “meant as an act of friendly greeting; he noted Buddhist practitioners commonly used it as such,” Rosen said. The student said he had done in the direction of the Buddhist peace symbol.

He also refused to take it down, even when asked to by the campus housing associate and the police.

According to a police report on the issue obtained by NJ.com, the officer told the two men, “in the interest of peacekeeping, that I strongly advise them to take it down, but that I cannot force them to do so and infringe upon their freedom of speech.”

Rosen said RU police “chided me for calling 911 and ultimately declared that this issue was not their domain.”

Rosen said this was the first time she heard of either student being Buddhist.

She said she is sure the symbol was intended for her.

“These individuals, knowing that I am Jewish, acted in a reprehensible manner and should be severely sanctioned,” she said. “I’m pretty upset with the way Rutgers handled the situation.”

Roommates had not been getting along

Rosen said she and her two roommates had not been getting along. There were dirty, overflowing dishes in the sink, which she had complained about. Her roommates brought a pine tree in at Christmas, which she said gave her allergies.

One of her roommates also posted pro-Hitler Facebook posts prior to the swastika symbol, she wrote. Those Facebook posts have been taken down, but she has screenshots of them.

Complaints to Rutgers officials not taken seriously, Rosen says

Rosen said her family urged her not to drop the matter, and she told many top Rutgers administrators about the incident. Yet she said neither of her roommates was disciplined for the symbol, nor were they forced to leave campus housing.

Resident Life offered to move her, as is their policy for any student who feels their safety is in danger. She took them up on their offer, and moved.

But it doesn’t seem fair, she says, that she had to leave when she didn’t do anything wrong. One of her roommates still lives in the apartment; the other was moved out for an unrelated housing violation.

“I asked when any sort of action would be taking place and ... I was told that this is a ‘learning experience,’” Rosen told Patch. “Dean of Students (Mark) Schuster told me ‘guys’ are just not at this ‘level of maturity’ that I am currently at and that this was just a ‘joke gone bad.’”

“My words of how serious this was were falling on deaf ears,” she said. She said she was even more disappointed by Rutgers’ response because generations of her family had gone to New Jersey’s state university.

Rutgers said they investigated, and matter has been handled

In a statement released to the press, Rutgers said they investigated the matter, and it has been handled. Schuster himself referred an NJ.com reporter to the school’s media relations office.

“In this matter, the Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) was contacted via 9-1-1 and RUPD personnel responded immediately to the student’s complaint. Following an extensive investigation, which included several interviews with the complainant, witnesses and the suspect, the matter was handled by The Office of Student Conduct and adjudicated. As is the case with any potential bias crime, the facts of the case were forwarded to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. Upon review, the prosecutor’s office determined there was not probable cause to charge the suspect with a bias crime,” read an emailed statement from the Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s chancellor’s office.

When pressed by Patch for more answers, Rutgers top spokesman Jeffrey Tolvin said, “Specific details regarding this case cannot be provided due to federal privacy laws.”

Rosen said she’s working with the Anti-Defamation League to change Rutgers’ policy should future incidents like this occur.

“No student should walk into an empty room and see a swastika, a KKK symbol, a Confederate flag with a cross burning … a student should never be exposed to symbolism of hate,” she said. “Especially on campus housing.”

Rosen is a 2012 graduate of J.P. Stevens High School in Edison.