Lesley Community,
We are writing this letter as a follow up to our last communication regarding the events of Sunday, May 13th that included anti-Semitic drawings and symbols as well as other vandalism found on the 2nd and 3rd floors of Lawrence Hall. This incident is a reflection of the parts of society that we must work tirelessly to combat. While our remaining graduating seniors living in Lawrence Hall were most directly impacted, the presence of such symbols on our campus sent a message to all Lesley community members – conveying hate, bigotry and injustice – and this was felt by our students, faculty, staff and alumni in various ways.
The range of emotions experienced and communicated by our community members throughout this time are very real and important to all of us. We must not allow such acts of hate to be normalized or tolerated in our society, and certainly not within our community. We maintain a firm commitment to thoroughly investigating any kind of incident of this sort and to taking action to help our community members heal and work together to ensure it does not happen again.
Following the events of Sunday, May 13th, Lesley responded to the reports of Swastikas in Lawrence Hall by immediately launching an investigation. Public Safety officers responded to student calls in the early morning hours, which set in motion a series of interviews. In the days immediately following the incident, the university conducted fourteen interviews with people who were residing in Lawrence Hall and those who were visiting Lawrence Hall residents during the weekend of the incident. University administrators met with the Cambridge Police Department to coordinate the investigation and seek their advice on how to proceed. University officials also reviewed Lawrence Hall building card access reports, exterior cameras on the Brattle campus on that evening and followed up on new information that was shared.
By the morning of Monday, May 14th, President Weiss had sent a communication to the Lesley community regarding the incident. And later that week, the Office of Multicultural Affairs & Student Inclusion in collaboration with Diversity Council organized three restorative dialogue forums intended for the Lawrence Hall residents present during the incident and the greater Lesley community. The intent was to offer a safe facilitated space for individuals to process the incident and the impact it has had on them as members of our community. We will continue to offer such spaces for community members to come together for dialogue, healing and solidarity as a part of our response to such incidents.
Unfortunately, such acts of bigotry are not uncommon on college campuses and despite the most dedicated efforts, it can be very challenging to identify the responsible individuals who should be held accountable. At this point, a thorough investigation has led to no solid evidence linking a particular person to this despicable act. However, this challenge does not deter us from our responsibility to prevent further acts of bigotry and hate, and our commitment to following up remains unwavering. Although we are now several weeks removed from the incident, the university continues to work with the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on matters connected to this incident.
This coming Fall, we will engage with our new and returning students on this incident and these issues. It is important that we build a culture within our community where individuals understand the implications of comments, attitudes and behaviors rooted in hate and the impact they have on others. As a community, we will have to grapple with the question of who we want to be, and what it means to get there. And we cannot arrive there if people are disengaged from the conversation. Because we know that people are socialized into hate and bigotry, we also know that anti-Semitism, racism, and the many other forms of prejudice can be unlearned when there is a personal commitment to growth. We will establish educational opportunities for the community to come together to explore, engage, and act to build a stronger Lesley and to develop our students as stronger leaders of the future.
We welcome comments and thoughts from anyone who wants to reach out to us, either in relation to this incident or with respect to our future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Nathaniel Mays, Dean of Students
Amarildo “Lilu” Barbosa, Interim Chief Diversity Officer