Two racial slurs targeted at a Latino student were found early Tuesday morning at Chapin Residential College, and have been classified as “hate crimes” by University Police.
A student was walking back to his room when he found the words “Die Spic” etched on poster hanging outside his door as well as on a wall adjacent to his room, according to Chapin President Nathaniel Whittemore. The student immediately alerted the resident assistant and UP.
The victim declined to comment.
Whittemore, along with the dorm’s two residential advisors, held a dorm meeting Tuesday night to inform residents about the incident. Reporters and members of the Associated Student Government’s hate crimes task force were not allowed to attend. Officials declined to comment regarding their decision to exclude people who were not dorm residents from the meeting.
The epithet marks the seventh reported instance of racial or religious vandalism at Northwestern since Winter Quarter of the last academic year. The most recent incident before Tuesday’s was Thursday, when a student found a swastika written in pencil on a wall at Willard Residential College.
But Tuesday’s incident is classified as a more serious event, according to NU guidelines in the “No Place for Hate” pamphlet. Because it alluded to a threat of violence and specifically targeted a student, the epithet is classified as a “hate crime.” Mary Desler, associate vice president for Student Affairs, who helped create the pamphlet, was not available for comment.
When residents at Chapin heard about the epithet, they were both “disheartened and disgusted,” said Whittemore, a Weinberg sophomore.
Sarah Miller, the dorm’s academic chair, said it was hard to believe such an incident would happen at the one of the smallest dorms on campus.
“It truly brings it home for me,” said Miller, an Education sophomore. “When I heard about these problems last year, I thought the last place it could happen was Chapin. It shows me that this could happen anywhere.”
Still the meeting, which turned into a 90-minute discussion about racial issues, highlighted the strong sense of community that characterizes the dorm, said Susannah Cunningham, a Communication sophomore.
“The incident was horrible, but luckily it doesn’t represent all of Chapin,” Cunningham said. “The room was full of love and tolerance at the meeting. We had a great dialogue.”
But dialogue will not be enough, said Karla Diaz, president of Latino cultural group Alianza. If NU truly wants to stop racial and religious epithets on campus, students and administrators must make more definitive steps that address the issue, she said.
Diaz said she plans to meet with administrators and the affected student next week. After last year’s “No Place for Hate” campaign, Diaz said she can not understand why some students continue to “make others feel unsafe.”
“I’m disgusted with the NU community,” said Diaz, a Weinberg junior. “It’s insane that someone would have that much disrespect for their fellow community member. We’ve come such a long way.”
An 11-student hate crimes task force has worked with administrators to address the issue. Richard Goldberg, a Medill junior who heads the task force, said the group “condemns this horrific act and will investigate it fully.”
Goldberg, who was excluded from the dorm meeting, said cooperation between students and administrators is necessary to stop racial and religious vandalism.
“The task force would hope the administration would be open and transparent with these issues,” Goldberg said. “We would also hope they work with students and not above the students’ heads.”
