On the heels of yesterday’s “Day of Unity” at Montclair State University, meant to bring the university community together after recent anti-gay threats, another bias incident has been reported.  A female student posted a photo on Facebook of a racist message scrawled in black marker.

This afternoon, President Susan Cole released this statement to students:

To Members of the Montclair State University Community:

Yesterday’s Day of Unity was a striking example of our community at its best—welcoming, inclusive, and strong in our message that “Hate is Not an MSU Value.”

It is, therefore, with great disappointment that I write to inform you of a second bias incident that occurred last night. Sometime around 10:30 p.m., a hateful message directed against African Americans and women was written in marker on the door of a room in The Heights residence complex. Students reported the incident to the University Police, and the Police launched a rigorous investigation which is currently underway.  The Bias Response Team has also been engaged.

The University has a “zero-tolerance” policy for bias intimidation and discrimination, along with an unswerving commitment to providing an environment that is inclusive, free of discrimination, bullying or harassment, and is welcoming to persons from all racial, ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds.  Once again, a few individuals have violated not only University policy, but the basic tenets of human decency. A bias incident is a criminal act, and anybody found responsible for such actions will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If you have any information relating to these incidents, please contact the University Police at (973) 655-5222, or the Confidential Tips Line at 973-655-8477, or utilize the Hawk Eyewitness E-tip via text message to 67283 from any cell phone. Any student who feels in need of support in regard to this incident should be in contact with Dean of Students Rose Mary Howell or members of her staff.

As we move forward, I urge you to remember the positive messages we shared at yesterday’s Unity Rally. The message “We Are as One” applies to members of every race, gender, and cultural or religious group on this campus.  Throughout its history, Montclair State University has provided educational opportunities to a highly diverse student population and a supportive environment in which all students with the desire to learn can pursue their goals and ambitions. That tradition is not going to change now.  Every student in this University is important to me, and now, as always, I will do everything I can to assure that every student has his or her chance at success.

 

33 replies on “Another Bias Incident at MSU”

  1. Hummmmmmm………..I remember a few years ago a Columbia professor…… not sayin, just sayin

  2. I’m glad to see they are taking this all very seriously and I’m very surprised at the comments in other threads that suggest that the authorities are overreacting. I’m baffled how some can be so cavaleer about it, considering the number of campus shootings that have occured in the last few years. It’s hard to avoid the impression from those comments that some may have their own bias on this subject. Just sayin.

  4. So, rooftop snipers is your idea of an appropriate response to a chalk scrawl that could just have easily been drawn by said gay group to draw attention? They are known to be theatrical, you know.

  5. blaming the victim, deadeye? classy.

    In case you forgot, racially biases death threats is a hate crime making it a pretty serious issue. the response was more than warranted.

  7. First, I cannot for the life of me make out the “message” (if there indeed is one) on what otherwise looks to me like a dressing room door backstage someplace because of the stars.

    Second, overreaction lies in immediately trumpeting what should obvious and is fact enshrined in the very idea of a university, tolerance and democratic values. Susan Cole thus plays to the galleries with her ringing statements that bigotry is not part of either the atmosphere or the curriculom at Montclair State. We know that. We expect that. It’s how she justifies her job. But her way of going about this isn’t necessarily helpful or evenm half-smart.

    But snipers (which presumably are NOT part of the mission and training of the campus police, despite that a poster on another thread claimed dopily that the unity rally yesterday was overseen solely by the campus force) are indeed an overreaction. And graffiti does not signal bigoted assailants lurking in battalion strength in the bushes. As ROC has aptly noted, you’ll likely see much worse on restroom walls (have any of you stopped at a GSP rest area lately?)’ and yet, there are no comparable calls for a joint FBI-NJSP strike force to put an end to this.

    I wouldn’t even be surprised if the “nest” of bigots being bruited about turns out to be one unhinged student or university employee. (Going solely by the descriptions I’ve read on this site, it surely seems to be someone with easy campus access.) Bigoted scrawls are a rather common way of calling attention to oneself, after all. And I still remember an American Nazi leader in PA from, I believe, the 70’s, who turned out to be Jewish. When confronted with this fact by a NY Times reporter, he actually pleaded that the reporter not write the resulting story. As best I recall, he killed himself when the story did break.

    The idea is to remain calm, not to try squatting down to the level of the presumed nutjob(s). This does not currently seem to be happening at Montclair State.

    And you really shouldn’t be “just sayin’,” State Street Pete. Not when your clear implication is thst those who might dissgree with you are perforce racists and bigots. I’m just sayin, too, that you might display more intellectual maturity on this one. Baristanet is not The Jerry Springer Show.

  8. Cole’s response is appropriate. These may be the scrawls of a lone deranged individual, (not unlike the postings of Cathar) but the law requires that they be reported as a bias crime and treated as such. Characterizing it as an “overreaction” reeks of shoving it under a rug. And this from Deadeye, who wouldn’t be caught dead on Mission Street, lest the temple of his high-earning body be violated.

    And conflating it with a theatrical gay group is just plain despicable, though in your case, Deadeye, not at all surprising. Sure wish you’d take a break from Baristanet and try to sell your views where you work. If they knew what you posted, they’d surely sh*t-c*n your *ss.

  9. Deadeye, I thought cathar and RoC were the most targeted conservatives on this forum but the venom these people spew against you is scary. So much for respecting others views. They come out of the woodwork to attack you (and Spiro hasn’t even posted yet). Kumbayah people.

  10. “First, I cannot for the life of me make out the “message” (if there indeed is one) on what otherwise looks to me like a dressing room door backstage someplace because of the stars.”

    cathar: the message starts with the “n” word, then goes on to say “Black Bitches You Will Die” and then refers to the gays who were threatened earlier.

    I think it was the death threat against black women, coming so soon after the highly specific death threats to gays and lesbians, that has the University responding so quickly and definitively.

  11. I never knew the students or staff at Montclair State were so insensitive to other ways of life/cultures etc. I certainly wouldn’t send my child there if they were different in any way. MSU should do a better job vetting their students and staff. Disappointing that our schools have been teaching diversity all these years and this still happens.

  12. Sorry Kit, but I’m a partner in my own firm. I can say anything I want, and I’m not firing myself anytime soon. Overreaction, plain and simple. Next time you go through an invasive search at the airport, let us know if those thoughts don’t go through your mind. These days everyone is using a bazooka to kill mosquitos. Graffiti has been common since ancient times, and as long as there is chalk and a sidewalk there will be messages written, and not all rainbows. BTW, I’m not the least bit anti-gay, just pro common sense.

  13. Again, My bet is that these scrawls are written by members of the “target” group to gain attention. Makes more sense than the conspiracy theory…

  14. Here’s an idea. Instead of investing in snipers and sensitivity training, MSU should invest in a lie detector. The “threat’ of being subjected to polygraph examination may miraculously have a dramatic dampening effect on these “hate crimes.”

  15. Deadeye, Managing Partner of Deadeye, Deadeye and Deadeye LLC., also believes that the U.S. military directed the World Trade Tower attacks to get larger weapons appropriations. Or was it the Mossad? Or Mayor Giuliani! Oh crap, I can’t keep my conspiracy theories straight.

  16. No actually lost a number of friends and former colleagues on 9/11. One kid that I hired out of college that had just gotten married. Used to work in Tower 1 and WFC 1 as well. Watched the Cantor direct lines all light up when the plane hit… no conspiracy theories. As to deadeye and deadeye, we invest in real estate. Multifamily moderate and low income housing is a significant focus.

  18. “Deadeye, I thought cathar and RoC were the most targeted conservatives on this forum but the venom these people spew against you is scary. So much for respecting others views. They come out of the woodwork to attack you (and Spiro hasn’t even posted yet). Kumbayah people.”

    Herb, –Spiro here. I can’t spend too much time here today, deadlines at work, and I also need to buy some organic yams at Whole Foods for the Quayle household, as you’ve suggested.

    But, despite your expectations, I will not be “spewing venom” at deadeye any time soon, and he shows us time and again to be a decent bloke, unlike some of the rightwingers that share his political leanings on this site but not his polish, nor his self-effacing sense of humor. Kumbayah to you too, Herb. Always a pleasure.

  19. I hope no one reads the walls in the student center annex men’s room. You might have to call in the National Guard.

  20. That’s an exceptionally futile, vastated post from you above, Spiro T, mo matter that you seem to specialize daily here in such hollowness. Congrats, you manage to combine the smugness and mural surety of a “typical” Montclair-type liberzl wih a prose style which, for the literate, can only induce groans if dimsy. Why, you’re so bad a writer, Spiro T, that I can only feel there’s a future slot reserved for you at the Huffington Post. Enjoy your yams, lad.

    And while I thank the poster who told me what the message is on the starred door, all that fit into those two little stars? (Which I realize doesn’t excuse a thing, before the outraged set to posting.) Or else, since scale is everything, it’s really written on the main gate to Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.

    But no one else wonders if these heinous graffiti aren’t done, so to speak, “in house?” No one remembers similar Panthers’ tactics from the late 60’s or has read and remembers Tom Wolfe’s “Mau-Mauing The Flak Catchers?”

    Ah, but I’m sure there’s a “rigorous” investigation going on right now at Montclair State. I await its results, and preferably sooner rather than later.

  21. Regarding the suspicion that targeted groups (those in the minority) are posting the graffiti themselves for attention, what is the rationale for this argument? i’m not saying its impossible, but that really seems like a stretch. i can’t understand why one would assume subterfuge/manipulation rather than what (to me) is a much more likely scenario – the hateful writings are the work of prejudiced (Scared of people that are different) individual(s) with a desire for “notoriety”.

  22. Certain people and groupos like to call attention to themselves, hf12. It’s as simple as that. And it has an happened an awful lot of times in well-publicized cases. It is often in the interests of the aggrieved, too, jsut to exaggerate how bad things are out there. Would you at least agree with me that whomever the perp turns out to bem he or she is truly pathetic and abject? Perhaos someone who needs the ego boost of police in brigade strength anhd rooftop snipers to establish his/her importance?

    And as I said yesterday, certainly the perpetrator here seems to be someone with rather ready access to both campus and dorm halls (which I’d have thought require a swipe card for entrance). I even seem to recall that the report of the latest graffiti seems to have been reported around 10:30 at night. No one finds that the least bit peculiar?

  24. PS of a sort: Has anyone else noted what the achingly sharp and savvy editors at Baristanet chose as “Related Posts” to this item? This really is either intentionally funny or the result of absolute editorial laziness on someone’s ill-part and inattentive part.

  25. But admit it, you do believe the CIA is covering up aliens in Roswell.

    I suppose now you’ll tell me that some of your best friends are aliens.

  26. cathar, like I said, deadeye presents himself to us as a well adjusted mentch.

    You on the other hand, seem to come here just to show us all that massive chip on your shoulder.

    Gotta go. Gotta get the projects out the door. I’ll save you a yam.

  27. Having just read one of Kit Schsckner’s virtriolic posts above, by the way, I think he/she is at his/her cutest when frothing so at the mouth. No ore literate or possessed of obvious intelligence, of course, but kind of cute for all the hapless burbling

    Roswell is a complicated story, walleroo. Probably wouldn’t have been if what was then the Army Air Force hadn’t first put one one story, then cahnged it to another, then hung poor Major Jesse Marcel out to dry as their scapegoat.

    But I will refer to the matter of the USAF base at Bentwaters in the UK. Don’t sneer so easily at the “invisible world,” there likely really is more out there than dreamt of in your philosphy. (Which is what exactly? Try as I might, I cannot quite discern one in your posts.)

  28. I’d also rather share your yams, Spiro T, than what passes for your sense of humor and your reliably flailing attempts to apply a reassuringly liberal viewpoint for each and every area happenstance. You plainly aspire to play at being Russell Baker at his most numbingly avuncular here.

    I remember former Philly Mayor and Police Chief Frank Rizzo’s remark to the effect that “A conservative is often a liberal who was mugged the other night.” (Though I wish you no real woe, and anyway you already seem badly affected by logorrhea and political delusions.)

  29. Cathar- i agree that it’s possible and understand there are historical precedents (both large and small). It just seems a less parsimonious explanation than someone prejudiced who is trying to feel powerful by causing distress. And, in terms of access, i have no understanding of MSUs system regarding security, but, as it seems likely to me that the individual(s) are student(s), it doesn’t strike me as overly peculiar (at least, not without more information).

    and yes, i agree with “pathetic and abject” as a description for the perpetrator(s), whoever they are.

  30. Cathar’s always reliably turgid postings are rendered even more obtuse than usual of late due to an alrming number of “typos”. There may be several possible causes:

    1. He may suddenly have undergone a growth spurt in his thumbs, causing them to overlap the keys while he hammers out his masterpieces.

    2. He may be stopping by Obal’s at an increasingly early hour.

    3. He may have recently purchased a new computer and has yet to figure out that the keyboard configurations are pretty much the same.

    4. In his haste to fire off his “observations”, he may simply be as careless with the presentation as he is with the content.

    Or, it may be something more sinister. Perhaps creatures from the “invisible world” have taken over his very being, and their unfamiliarity with the English language has made him their victim.

    We can only speculate, those of us who are avuncular and all.

  31. Oh boy, Cathar believes in UFOs. Not that I’m all that surprised I guess.

    And while I appreciate the Shakespeare quote, you then conflate ‘personal’ philosopy with what Hamlet was talking about, which was knowledge of the world. So, you know, before you start talking about how bad other writers are, you should make sure your comments make total sense.

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