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Following is a joint message to Northwestern University undergraduate students from William J. Banis, Vice President for Student Affairs; Tracy M. Carson, Coordinator, For Members Only; and Michael Fong, President, Associated Student Government:
We met yesterday to discuss the recent hate crime incident in Ayers Residential College. We stand together in condemning and denouncing in the strongest terms possible these racist acts. Northwestern University is an institution that prides itself on its diversity, tolerance and respect for all members of the Northwestern community. These acts are an attack not just on individuals, but also on the entire campus community and on the University itself.
Now we would like to bring you up to date on some of the University's efforts regarding this incident.
- The University is treating these incidents as hate crimes. University staff and University Police are investigating the incidents and are actively gathering and evaluating information.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting University Police in investigating the incident. We appreciate the assistance and involvement of the FBI and hope that the combined resources of the two agencies will identify the perpetrator or perpetrators.
- Northwestern is offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to the
arrest and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators. Students with possible
leads
should contact Lt. Glenn Turner of the university Police at 847-491-3254.
- The University Residential Life staff has met with the affected students and other Ayers residents and will continue to provide the appropriate support. They are also assisting in the investigation and we request that you provide them with your full cooperation.
- University Police will increase its surveillance of Ayers Hall.
- A new policy on civility, mutual respect and violence will be added to the code of student conduct and will be published in the student handbook. In addition, the code of student conduct is being reviewed to possibly include off-campus incidents that fall within the jurisdiction of University Police. Further, a new section defining bias incidents and hate crimes will also be added to the student handbook.
- The No Place for Hate Campaign will continue and new information will be incorporated into New Student Week. A hate crime and bias incident brochure will be developed and distributed to students.
- The Division of Student Affairs welcomes collaboration with the student task force in not only resolving the recent incident, but in working together to prevent any reoccurrence of such incidents. In addition, the student task force is invited to consult with the Student Affairs incident response team on reviewing incident response procedures.
Student who have concerns about the incidents are encouraged to discuss their concerns with members of the Student Affairs staff.
We acknowledge that individuals, groups, the entire community and the University are victims of these acts of hatred and that we all must work together to prevent them from occurring on our campus and in our lives.
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