Oct 30, 2007 10:20 pm US/Central
Hate Crime Reported At St. Thomas Dorm
(WCCO)
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Smith said, she discovered a two-word hate message written in permanent marker on her dorm room door at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
CBS
St. Paul Police and University of St. Thomas
Public Safety officers are investigating a report of a hate crime on the school's
campus.
"My first reaction was -- I was actually in
shock," said Malaika Smith, a sophomore Accounting major.
Smith said, she discovered a two-word hate
message written in permanent marker on her dorm room door at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Smith shares the room in John Paul II Hall's
second floor with two other African-American students. At 7:50 a.m., they discovered a note in their
room. Smith said, the note was hateful,
full of racist language.
"It is basically telling us to leave and
don't come back," according to Smith.
A campus security officer escorted Smith around
campus Tuesday night. When she left her
room around 7 p.m., she returned at 8 p.m. to find another hateful message left
on the dry erase board on her dorm door.
"I just expect in this day and age that people would be more informed on
diversity and not be so ignorant," she said. "In a place where we're supposed to learn ... to grow as people ... some people just grow a little slower than others, I
believe."
The campus administration sent an e-mail alert
to all students and staff. They held an
emergency meeting with top officials and the students.
"It isn't just a little thing you write.
It's hate and it has to stop," said Jim Winterer, St. Thomas University
spokesman. "These kind of crimes,
they thrive in secrecy. You have to talk
about them and you can't pretend they didn't happen."
John Paul II Residence Hall is a secure
building; the female residents need a student ID to enter. However, residents can bring guests
inside. Winterer said, safety officials
are reviewing records of who was in the building during the incidents.
If the perpetrator wants Smith and her
roommates to leave the campus, she said that person is going to be
disappointed.
"We're not gonna run away. We're gonna
face this, we're not gonna sweep this under the rug," she said.
Details have not been finalized, but according to Winterer, St. Thomas is
planning a rally and/or a march to support the three students for Thursday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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