Faith Monahan ’24
News Editor
The College announced on Wednesday, March 1st, that the person responsible for carving antisemitic hate symbols into an Ogilby Hall room door this past September has not been identified through Campus Safety’s months-long investigation. On September 18th, earlier this academic year, Campus Safety received a report that three swastikas had been carved into a Jewish student’s door in Ogilby Hall. This is a hate crime under Connecticut Law.
Following the hate crime, Anita Davis and Joe DiChristina sent an email to the College community calling for these acts to be treated as intolerable and for students with any information to contact Campus Safety, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion administrators, or the Campus Climate Incident Response Team. The investigation was conducted according to Trinity’s Anti-Discrimination Policy. Although the investigation is closed, any information should immediately be provided to Pamela Whitley, Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Although the perpetrator of the crime was not identified, the update stated that the College has acted on issues that came to light during the investigation. The College cannot publicly disclose further details of the investigation due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Trinity College is far from immune to the reflections of hate existing in our society today, as many students know through their own experiences. Abhorrent acts conducted by students have targeted other students’ identities before.
Campus resources for students include the Counseling and Wellness Center, Trinity College Hillel, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Queer Resource Center, the Office of Student and Community Life, and the Women and Gender Resource Action Center.
This is written like an opinion piece—and a poorly written one at that. If you are a News Editor, please try to write with an air of objectivity. Sentences like “We cannot signal that someone can get away with this …” have no place in a news article. Even the headline with the adjective “disheartening” is unacceptable. Higher standards in your journalistic practices will help lend credibility to your words, the publication and even to the institution.