Hall swastikas ‘a joke,’ students say
Men behind incidents not arrested; police chief says two were unrelated
SAN JOSE — The students who left swastikas and hateful language inside two San Jose State residence halls Monday evening — prompting outrage and concern across campus — said they did so as “a joke,” university officials said Thursday.
Campus police Chief Peter Decena also said the incidents were unrelated, despite tak- ing place on the same day and around the same time. The students responsible, identified as two males, admitted to creating the swastikas during interviews with police, Decena said.
He declined to state their ages or races and whether the students lived at either of the locations in which the incidents occurred.
At a news conference with Decena on Thursday, SJSU President Mary Papazian said the students were not arrested following the incident because their actions did not target any particular student and are therefore not considered
criminal. The outcome of the investigation will determine the appropriate punishment, she said, adding that the incidents do suggest bias against a particular group.
Papazian stressed that the incidents are being taken seriously, calling them “very, very disturbing.”
“We are very concerned about how our (students in particular), but our entire community are feeling and responding to this incident,” Papazian said outside of Washburn Hall, where one of the incidents took place.
“Anytime you have hate- ful language or hateful symbols, it impacts somebody very personally. And I think we all can say that we are saddened when there are those feelings of negativity directed at anyone.”
The incidents took place during a time when race relations across the nation have grown increasingly strained, particularly during a presidential election season in which many minority groups feel targeted and misunderstood.
In the first incident, reported Monday evening, according to Decena, name tags removed from the doors of rooms at Washburn Hall were used to form a swastika. It was accompanied by anti-Semitic language, according to officials. That same evening, a swastika was drawn on a dry-erase board in the common area of a Campus Village suite, which was described to police by the student responsible as a “joke board.”
When asked if she believed the nation’s political climate contributed to the incidents on campus, Papazian said she didn’t want to make that connection, but that the climate in this country — even before the election — has been a challenging one.
“Sadly we see these at campuses across the coun- try. San Jose State is actually very average in terms of these kinds of incidents occurring, and I think as a broader society, it raises questions about how we actually talk to each other as communities,” she said.
“Our world is a very difficult place right now, and unfortunately there is no place in our world right now that is completely safe.”
Similar incidents have rocked San Jose State in the past. Earlier this year, three white students were convicted of misdemeanor battery on a black suite- mate after a U-shaped bike lock was clamped to the victim’s neck. Witnesses in the 2013 incident testified that he was called names alluding to slavery, including “three-fifths.” The students were cleared of more serious hate-crime charges, and their sentences sparked an outcry, particularly among students of color.
School officials hired Chief Diversity Officer Kathleen Wong(Lau) following the trial in an effort to improve community relations and to lead diversity initiatives on campus. Wong(Lau) met with students Wednesday night.
Papazian, who joined the university in July, met Thursday with more than 100 faculty members and with the executive director of the local chapter of Hillel, an international Jewish student organization. She was scheduled to meet with students in the dining commons that evening.
She also plans to hold a town hall with students next month.