The Hanover Police Department contested College President Sian Leah Beilock’s Saturday announcement that a swastika had been drawn outside a Jewish student’s dorm room.
“We did extensive follow up and at this time we do not believe that the writing was a swastika,” Hanover Police captain Michael Schibuola wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth on Sept. 29.
The police visited the location of the alleged act of antisemitism and said that the writing taken for a swastika appeared “to be of a positive/non-threatening nature.”
“We hope someone comes forward to confirm that their writings were not intended to be negative in any way and assist in dispelling the alarm for the community,” Schibuola wrote in the statement.
On Sept. 27, Beilock announced during an event for Family Weekend that the alleged second swastika had been found the previous night. She condemned the act in an email to campus later in the day.
“Late last night, a Jewish student found a swastika drawn on a laminated sign hanging outside of their dorm room,” she wrote on Saturday. “I am shocked and sickened to be writing to you again about targeted harassment occurring where our students live.”
This comes after a swastika was etched in the rug outside of a different Jewish student’s dorm on Sept. 17. The police are still investigating the initial incident, Schibuola said.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, College spokesperson Jana Barnello said that news of the second swastika had come from a “credible report.”
“The Department of Safety and Security received a credible report of targeted harassment and antisemitism over the weekend from a student,” she wrote. “We take all reports of this nature from our students seriously. We responded immediately and we are still investigating.”
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Director of Safety and Security Keiselim Montas said he has “no comments at this moment.”
Update Appended (Sept. 30, 2:28 p.m.): This article has been updated to clarify that Beilock issued a campus-wide announcement.
