Freshmen residing in South Hall received an early exposure to racism at Tufts after a hate incident, involving a swastika and written racial slurs against people of Asian descent, occurred in a dormitory hallway during orientation.
On the second night of orientation, students living on the third floor of South Hall reported an ad for a campus event that had discriminatory remarks written on it. The slurs read: "Kill all chinks and gooks," according to South Hall residents who wished to remain anonymous.
Resident Assistants (RAs) in South immediately informed the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) of the incident. According to the official police report, no suspects have yet been identified, and Residential Life Director Lorraine Toppi has repeatedly refused to comment on the incident.
Administrators were concerned that first-year students might get the wrong idea about Tufts during their first few days on campus.
"It's important for first-year students to learn that Tufts doesn't tolerate hurtful and hateful graffiti," dean Kristine Dillon said. "Tufts does not have a history of these incidents on a frequent basis."
Associate Dean of Students Marisel Perez received the police report the following day and notified Residential Life to ensure that all South residents were made aware of the incident.
"I wanted to make sure there was an appropriate response to let all the residents [of South] know," she said. Perez arranged for the issue to be addressed during a mandatory hall meeting scheduled for the following week. Most residents did not know of the incident until the hall meeting, said South resident Kate Singleton.
Perez said that the administrative response to the incident will serve as a measuring stick for dealing with any future occurrences of hate graffiti. "I want to make sure we review protocol and institute a rapid response for the students," she said.
Eric Swindle, associate director of student activities and the proctor of South Hall, is planning an additional meeting and further training for RAs. The Office of Student Activities will also create a task force to address the incident and others like it.
After the hall meeting, RAs held floor meetings to talk with students about the incident, and offered support to any student who needed to talk further.
Many students were shocked by the incident. One third-floor South resident, who asked to remain anonymous, was fearful after reading the slurs.
"My initial reaction was that it was a joke, but then I was scared and I didn't want to leave my room," the resident said.
Another freshman resident was taken aback by the incident because she did not think such events occurred at Tufts.
"I never imagined it to be like this because Tufts is an open community. It made me feel unwelcome," the resident said.
Despite students' ill feelings towards the incident, most felt that the administration responded appropriately.
"I think it was handled fine," sophomore Saira Shirazi said. "What happened obviously was wrong, but you can only tell people so much and if they want to do it, they'll still do it."
