Swastikas found at Briscoe

IU Police Department officers were called to investigate drawings of swastikas on the walls of the eighth floor of Briscoe-Gucker Saturday afternoon. \nThe swastikas were drawn during the celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, which began at sundown Wednesday. IUPD has no suspects in the case, and the graffiti has already been removed from the walls, according to IUPD reports.\nResident Assistant Josh Colbert called in the complaint, and officers arrived at 4:15 p.m. to discover three swastikas drawn in the hallways, according to IUPD reports. The swastikas were drawn in pink and black dry erase markers, and ranged from one and a half to two feet in diameter. IUPD officers took pictures of the scene, and Residential Programs and Services was called to clean the swastikas off the walls. Briscoe Center President Rob Cleary could not comment on the incident.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig had not yet been briefed on the incident, but said the police and Racial Incidents Team are both called in when situations like this occur. The Racial Incidents Team investigates the episode and provides any assistance it can, he said. \nThe Team was created by the Office of Student Ethics in response to an increasing number of religiously biased incidents, according to an Aug. 26 Indiana Daily Student article. \n"We see a few cases like this each year," IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said, "But any incident at all is far too frequent."\nIncidents such as the one Saturday are usually not the work of organized anti-Semitism, Minger said.\n"Incidents such as these usually do not appear to be a concentrated movement," he said. "It usually seems to be vandalism a person does to stir up attention."\nAlthough the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center had not been officially informed of the incident yet, Assistant Director Andy Gitelson described cases like this as "deplorable."\n"If the incident did indeed occur, I hope that the person can find some outlet with us or someone else in the community to get their head straightened out," Gitelson said. \nGitelson said he thought the location of the graffiti makes incidents such as this one even worse. \n"It is especially deplorable in a University setting, inside of a dorm, where students should expect to feel safe," he said.\nGitelson encouraged students hurt by such incidents to seek out the University Racial Incidents Team, as well as IUPD, their RAs and the Hillel Center. \n-- Contact staff writer Mike Wilson at mhwilson@indiana.edu.