OVCDEI Statement in Response to a Recent Act of Anti-Semitism

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Late last night University Housing staff observed that someone had used a marker to draw a swastika on a wall inside a bathroom of a residence hall. A resident adviser immediately reported this incident to the University of Illinois Police Department and University Housing staff responded to address and cover it. Facilities & Services is on site today to remove the image. Information about this incident has been received through the university’s bias reporting process. Officers gave the resident adviser contact information for University Police social workers to provide to any residents who felt threatened.

As Chancellor Jones stated in his massmail to the campus community on Sunday night, anti-Semitism of any kind is offensive, unacceptable, and antithetical to our university values of inclusion and tolerance. All acts of hate and dehumanization creates cracks in what holds us together as a community, and as a community we must speak out against them and do all that we can to prevent these offensive acts from happening again.

If you observe incidents of bias or intolerance, or behavior that negatively affects your sense of belonging and inclusion on campus or that of others – including anti-Semitism, hate, or other forms of bias –  please submit a report at go.illinois.edu/CampusBelonging. Members of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Campus Belonging Resources staff will follow up individually when requested to provide resources and response.