Please be advised that this article contains language talking about antisemitic graffiti.
On March 15, Emily DeLossa ‘24 discovered a swastika in a Hathorn Hall elevator around 2:35 p.m. on her way to meet with her thesis advisor.
Drawn in pencil, the swastika was so small that DeLossa had a hard time identifying it at first, according to an email DeLossa sent to Associate Vice President for Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance Gwen Lexow. After spotting the swastika, DeLossa informed her thesis advisor who asked to see the antisemitic graffiti. Her thesis advisor took two photos of the swastika and reported it to the Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance Office by sending an email to Lexow.
In an email to DeLossa, Lexow said that she had notified Campus Security and had “asked the facilities services to remove it.”
While DeLossa shared that the swastika was removed “within 30 minutes of my reporting it to my thesis advisor,” she wrote in an email to The Student that “it is not clear who removed it as Campus Safety and janitorial/maintenance staff at Bates say it was not them.” In an email obtained by The Student, DeLossa wrote that she is “disturbed that an individual on campus decided to partake — even if at a small scale — in antisemitic graffiti.”
DeLossa added, “Unfortunately, I’ve seen this become so commonplace at other institutions — even those who regard themselves as highly as Bates — through [my] friends and family’s [experiences]. Given recent events, I am not surprised instances of antisemitism are rising on campuses. All we can do is [do] our best to report it and discourage it.”
The swastika was first reported to the community in an email from President Garry Jenkins on March 18. In his email, Jenkins condemned the act as “hateful” and “cowardly” and promised to install more cameras “across campus to identify vandals.”
This is the second time this academic year that antisemitic graffiti on campus has been reported to the community.
Following the incident in October the school promised to open an investigation to identify the individual(s) responsible. In an email to The Student the college said, “The investigation into the October incident was unable to identify the person responsible. If additional information about that incident becomes available, we would reopen the investigation.”