The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now looking into a slew of racial drawings that have appeared in residence halls at George Washington University, according to The Hatchet, GW's student newspaper.
On Oct. 23, GWU freshman Sarah Marshak, who is Jewish, found a swastika drawn on her whiteboard. Over the next 10 days, five more swastikas were found on Marshak's whiteboard in Mitchell Hall, along with two other swastikas drawn in Potomac House and New Hall. The GW Police Department offered Marshak full protection and the option of moving into a new residence hall, according to The Hatchet.
Ensuring the safety of Marshak and the other targeted students is the foremost prerogative, according to Rebecca Sanfield, vice president of GWU's Jewish Student Association.
"I personally have spent a great deal of time talking with her [Marshak] and making sure that we can do everything within our power to make her feel more comfortable on campus," she said.
Although there have been no similar incidents reported recently at AU, students reacted strongly to the news of the drawings at neighboring GW.
Drawn swastikas should not be taken lightly, and the school should keep the students informed with any findings on the case, said Frank Poppe, a freshman in the School of International Service.
"I think swastika drawings should be taken very seriously," he said. "The more transparent the school is with these drawings, the better. The kids really need to know what's going on [with the investigation]."
The drawings do not exemplify the sentiments of the wider campus community, and the GW administration has done a respectable job in responding to the vandalism committed by a fringe group of students, Sanfield said.
"This is either one or a group of misguided students who have chosen to display their feelings in an inappropriate and immature manner," she said. "We are very pleased with the response of the university. They have done everything in their power to make this come to an end."
Treating swastikas as a joke leads to racial violence and sweeping stereotypes, said Charlotte Gerard, a senior in the College of Arts and Science.
"They're [swastikas] are often joked about by students, but I don't think it's something that should be treated as a joke," she said. "They're not funny. Swastikas are not funny."
Directly responding to hateful vandalism is the only way to dispel the ignorance, Sanfield said.
"The swastika symbol has incredible meaning to not only the Jewish community, but to humanity as a whole," she said. "It represents oppression, hate and destruction. We obviously cannot sit idly by and watch while a member of our community is confronted with such overt displays of hate."
AU's Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policy prohibits discrimination or discriminatory harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and disability and declares "the right to free speech does not excuse engaging in discrimination or discriminatory harassment"
