“Bigots and cowards”: EC responds to recent hate incidents

Elmhurst College is investigating a series of back-to-back hate incidents that surfaced in a campus dorm early this week—culprits that President Troy VanAken called “cowards and bigots.”

The incidents come during Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) Pride Week, a series of events organized by QSA and the campus to celebrate the acceptance and acheivements of the LGBTQIA+ community.

On Monday evening October 21, a mirror in the second floor girls’ bathroom in Niebuhr Hall was found covered in derogatory language. The language, which was written in what appears to be red lipstick, said “No gays/lesbians allowed”, “KKK bitches”, and included a six-point star with the number 666, according to a Snapchat video provided by EC student Acqueira Curry.

Executive director of campus security Marc Molina said the campus is working with the Elmhurst Police Department in an active investigation.

“We spoke with the parties who reported the findings, documented the incident, contacted the Elmhurst Police Department, and we worked with Facilities Management to have the vandalism removed immediately,” he explained.

Molina also said the incident was classified as a hate/bias crime and was forwarded to the Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT), the newly formed unit charged with handling all incidents of hate on campus.

QSA released a statement on Instagram, assuring the campus that events scheduled for Pride Week, including a drag show on October 25, would still go as planned.

“The situation is disappointing and concerning, but rest assured we will not be changing any of our events this week. We should not give into fear or change our daily lives regardless of if the message was a troll or a purposeful message of hate.”

Black Student Union president Erika Jakes also condemned the October 21 incident in a mass email to the student organization.

“Last night, a hate speech incident occurred on campus in Niebuhr Hall. The hate speech was very direct and intentional,” wrote Jakes. “We want to thank our member who reported it, as she prompted an investigation into the matter.”

But following the initial hate incident, images shared by students revealed more hateful speech in Niebuhr Hall bathrooms. The incident involved multiple racial slurs using the N-word handwritten on showers located in the dorm.

In a campus wide email to students, VanAken said, “We are taking these incidents seriously, as we would regarding any threat to our students’ safety and well-being. Unfortunately, incidents like this will happen, as long as there are cowards and bigots in the world.”

VanAken also encouraged the campus to “talk through this together” at a town hall meeting October 28 at 5 p.m. in the Frick Center.

“I will not tolerate any threat to that understanding,” he added. “Neither will any of our other campus leaders, our faculty or staff.”