Students on the 4th floor of Centennial Halls North woke up Monday morning, Oct. 28, to discover graffiti written on their floor. The message was written on a mirror with green marker and read, “Retards, gays and coloreds go to this school. BEWARE.”

“At first I was really upset and angry that it had been written there. And then I was afraid,” said freshman Adrian Nava, a resident of the floor. “Maybe it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn’t.”
Following the incident, Nava reached out to several parties on campus, including the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Center for Multicultural Excellence (CME) and Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Empowerment (CAPE). He also contacted anthropology professor Dores Cruz, who teaches the first year seminar “Men, Women, and Beyond: Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective.”

“I wasn’t really surprised,” said Cruz. “There have been other incidents in the last few years that have hinted that the university is not as friendly an environment to minorities as people like to believe it is.”

Cruz referred to the “Cowboys and Indians” themed fraternity and sorority party that caused controversy two years ago and the ongoing Boone controversy.

“I think the university should take a position not only on this specific incident, but other issues related to diversity,” she said. “In my opinion, the university needs to be more active in creating a more diverse body of students, staff and faculty.”

USG also responded to the incident in their weekly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 29, in which Secretary of Inclusive Excellence Angela Ianniello made a statement.

“The event that took place yesterday serves as an important reminder that DU has not and cannot escape from larger systemic issues of prejudice and hatred,” said Ianniello. “We cannot pretend that our community is immune to such acts and instead we must acknowledge that they exist, many of which we do not see, and unify to actively fight against them.”

Demitrius Brown, executive director of Housing and Residential Education (HRE), was notified of the event by a resident assistant (RA).

“Unfortunately incidents like this happen throughout our society,” said Brown. “It’s unfortunate it happened at DU, but the beauty of a university is that you get to have really educational discussions about inclusion and acceptance when things like this happen.”

Brown said that after the incident a student came forward and told HRE they knew who wrote the message. The person responsible was a guest of a student and was not affiliated with DU. She later wrote a letter to the floor apologizing for her actions.

“I am really proud of how the students and staff have responded to this unfortunate incident,” said Brown. “It was a powerful experience sitting in a meeting with the perpetrator and two members of the community who shared how they were affected by that individual’s actions. Those two students did a good job of sharing what DU values to the person who caused the harm.”

Brown said HRE is not done with their work in the community that was affected. He said the community will make decisions as a floor and as a building to see what they need moving forward.

Nava addressed the potential reaction of the university in his email to Cruz.

“I am not looking for a strongly worded email, an official email from the Chancellor or a general message to the DU population about hate speech and discrimination,” he said. “I am in search of attention from outside sources and for the university’s lack of accountability on issues like these to be displayed.”
Other residents of the floor also discussed their feelings about the incident.

“It’s horrific that someone could say such hurtful things,” said freshman Jack Quinn. “We’re all equal when it comes down to it. It doesn’t matter your sexual orientation, race or ethnicity.”

However, Nava said some of his peers did not seem to take the issue seriously.

“To be honest I didn’t really think anything of it because I saw it all the time in my high school,” said freshman Andrew Weeks. “Personally I think it was just a joke. I think some idiot was just messing around.”

According to Nava, the apology written to the floor said the graffiti was meant as a joke and was not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings.

“But a lot of my friends and I, who happen to be minorities, have already felt discriminated against. The climate is already tense among us students,” he said.

Nava said he and his friends were upset by the incident, and he did not think the person responsible took that into consideration when they acted.

“I don’t think it ever really matters why someone chooses to take an action like that,” said Brown. “The impact on the community is where the focus needs to be.”

USG released a statement reacting to the incident on Tuesday before their regular meeting.

“This level of discrimination and offense brings shame and embarrassment to our community; it is the antithesis of what it means to be a Pioneer. To be inclusive, we must be excellent, and to be excellent, we must be inclusive. It is each Pioneer’s responsibility to uphold this vision of inclusive excellence in thought and practice.”

However, Cruz said there are still misconceptions about racial and gender issues among students. She added that such incidents can have negative consequences on the image of the university.

“The university talks the talk, but does not walk the walk,” she said. “There is discourse about diversity, but there’s a big difference between theory and practice.”