Racist comments and slurs about homosexuals covered a bathroom stall in the second floor of Biever Hall before the Thanksgiving break, a dorm resident said.
According to a Biever Hall resident who wished to remain anonymous, the graffiti said “F— you n—–” and was written about a Residential Life employee.
The graffiti also included comments saying that homosexuals would burn in hell, except for those who are dying of AIDS, because they will face a painful death.
Residential life staff members say they haven’t located the culprit.
“There were racial comments that were scratched into the paint. It’s a locked wing, so it’s either somebody who lives on the floor or a guest of the floor,” said Michelle Andrews, Associate Director of Residential Life.
According to the Biever resident, one wing of the second floor is mostly white heterosexual men while the other wing is predominately gay men.
“I think the administration swept it under the rug very quickly. I think it was because the wing was gay,” he said.
Most of the comments were removed after they were reported, but some of the graffiti remained in the stall longer than the rest, Andrews said.
Black Student Union members learned of the racist remark written on the stall.
“It seemed like it was kept under wraps because nobody knew about it. A lot of people don’t talk about it, but it (racism) is a problem on this campus,” said Fnan Nuguse BSU secretary.
Some see this incident as a setback from the forum held by students last month. Six students spoke about their experiences as a minority at Loyola.
“Forums are great, but it happens after the fact,” Nuguse said.
Bridging the Gap, an organization that is trying to help end racism among students, joined the BSU and Etcetera, an organization that deals with gay, lesbian and transgender issues, to discuss the incident.
“We are working hard to address this. A small campaign will take place with posters that say, ‘Why hate your neighbor?’ in the residence halls,” said Caryn Winters, president of Bridging the Gap. Winters said she doesn’t think Loyola is a racist campus.
According to the anonymous source, some BSU members were upset because the graffiti incident was kept quiet.
“I do wish the university administration would be more proactive. They have a cycle. They react to an incident, and then you don’t hear anything about it,” said Winters.
The source said he thinks that discrimination against homosexuals is more widespread on this campus than people think.
“Maybe we are not being oversensitive. Maybe it is happening. We pay too much money to come here to have people push us around,” he said.
