By Elise Schoening
Features Editor
Every week, Features Editor Elise Schoening hits the archives and finds old Signals that relate to current College topics and top stories.
Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The president-elect has pledged to ban all Muslims for entering the country in an effort to combat ISIS. This rhetoric is reminiscent of the anti-Muslim sentiment that pervaded American society in the wake of 9/11 and could be found on the College’s campus. In September 2001, anti-Muslim chalkings were discovered outside of Townhouses East.
A student found a chalking that read, “Fuck the Arabs!” Fuck Afghanistan!” outside the Townhouses East on Sept. 16, according to Jesse Rosenblum, vice president of college relations.
The student notified Campus Police at 3:25 p.m. of this incident. Rosenblum said they quickly responded and removed the chalking.
Campus Police is investigating the chalking. State police and the attorney general’s office were also informed, according to Julius Quinn of Campus Police.
“We don’t take (these situations) lightly,” said Quinn.
However, Quinn said this appears to be an isolated incident.
“The message was not directed toward an individual. It was one incident of bias,” he said.
Rosenblum called the chalking “just ridiculous.” He also said that people cannot generalize a whole ethnic group of people or a country.
In response to the chalking, Ann DeGennaro, director of campus wellness, said that the campus community condemns this act and continues to pull together.
DeGennaro has been working in conjunction with psychological counseling services and student life to meet the needs of all students following the recent terrorist attacks in an effort to let students know that they have somewhere to go. DeGennaro said debriefing support groups and additional counseling services have been implemented.
Around the nation, people of Middle Eastern descent are facing threats and discrimination in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC.
“We denounce the terrorists attacks. They don’t reflect the behavior and thought of the majority of Muslims. And... we are Americans too,” said Joshua Salaam, civil rights coordinator for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
