USF expels student who hung a noose at dorm

The University of San Francisco has expelled a student who admitted to hanging a noose on a residence hall balcony, campus officials said Friday.

The expulsion came after a campus investigation into the discovery of a noose March 30 hanging from a fourthfloor balcony at the university’s Loyola Village residence hall. The noose is a historical symbol of America’s racist history of lynchings of Black people.

USF President Paul J. Fitzgerald and two other officials announced the expulsion, effective immediately, in a letter posted on the university website Friday afternoon.

In an open letter earlier this week to San Francisco Bay View National Black newspaper, USF Black Student Union President Brianna Johnson had demanded the university release the identity of the person responsible for hanging the noose, evict them from student housing and expel them from the university. Johnson also called on the university to quickly and widely disclose hate crimes and proactively provide wellness checks for students who might be emotionally affected.

Fitzgerald said in an earlier response to the Black Student Union that it would not identify the student, citing federal and university privacy requirements. But he said the university would meet the group’s other demands.

In Friday’s letter, university officials said they determined that the student acted alone in creating the noose and hanging it in a public space. They said the action was not directed at a specific person but did not explain why the student decided to display the noose.

“Although it was learned through the investigation that the student’s actions were not directed at another member of the USF community, the impact caused extraordinary distress, hurt, and fear for health, safety and wellbeing,” the letter said. “USF does not and will not tolerate actions that have such an impact, regardless of intent or underlying reasons.”