CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - Harvard University has launched an investigation after a faculty member found note bearing “hateful and obscene” language tacked to her office door on Thursday, school officials said.
The note insulted the woman’s ethnicity and immigrant status, challenged her right to be at Harvard, and wished her ill, Dean Claudine Gay and University President Lawrence S. Bacow wrote in an email that was sent to Faculty of Arts and Sciences affiliates on Friday.
In the email, Gay and Bascow condemned the hateful act and all forms of hate speech.
“Attacks of this kind are both personally damaging for those who experience them and an assault on our faculty’s fundamental commitments to academic excellence,” their email read. “Acts of bigotry and malice harm us all because they corrode the trust and respect that is essential to the open exchange of ideas.”
The Harvard University Police Department provided support to faculty and staff on Thursday, in addition to beginning a formal inquiry into the matter.
“This has been a very difficult 24 hours for this faculty member and the local department,” the email continued. “As we all find ways to support one another and to recommit ourselves to the values that define who we are as a community, we would ask that we do so in a way that is mindful of the need for privacy of those directly impacted.”
Students around the campus said this incident is an unfortunate reflection of campus life.
“It’s very unfortunate, I’m a student, I am a Latinx student and I am a first-year student. So, It’s a little bit unfortunate that it’s happening so early in my time here,” Gabi Maduro said. “It’s a little bit discouraging but I think you know, the administration is responding in the best way they know.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the university police at 617-495-1796.
The faculty member who was victimized was not named in the email.
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