The University of Central Florida community was shaken when anti-Semitic stickers and propaganda popped up throughout campus.
The University of Central Florida Police Department released the incident reports related to these displays Tuesday afternoon but some students believe UCF is not taking enough action.
Three reports were filed on Nov. 15, the day KnightNews.com broke the story about the UCF newsstand defaced with anti-Semitic labels.
An official in Tower 4 reported that they were “contacted by someone who was concerned about the nature of a sign on the front glass door and two stickers that were applied to a newspaper dispenser outside the front door,” according to the report. An RA went outside and said that whoever applied the signs did so in front of a security camera. From there, security footage of two persons of interest was released.
A second occurrence took place when a Residence Assistant in Nike “noticed ‘anti- Jewish’ stickers that were stuck to the community mailbox,” the incident report stated.
Another incident, also the same day, happened at Lake Claire where an RA’s bulletin board was destroyed and replaced with stickers that read statements such as “Truth is Treason in the empire of lies, Muh Holocaust and another one had a swastika on it,” according to the report.
The day after those three incidents, Nov. 16, more stickers were found under the bus shelter in front of Tower 3, according to reports.
“The stickers had markings of swastika symbols on them and appeared to have been placed there as an act of vandalism, causing minor damage to the area,” the report stated.
A similar sticker to the one found at the bus shelter was discovered on a street sign at the intersection of East Plaza Drive and Gemini Blvd.
“The sticker was white in color and displayed the Star of David with the words ‘1 percenters’ on it. That sticker appeared to be antisemitic in nature, and was eventually removed before a police report could be done on it,” according to the incident report.
UCFPD is still investigating the incidents and following up with tips that came in after the Tower 4 security footage was released.
Some students addressed the situation with President Hitt saying what has been done regarding the events “is simply not enough.”
34 Jewish and civil rights organizations emailed Hitt and copied Provost Whittaker with their concerns on the way these incidents have been handled and ways to move forward.
“We are aware that your administration has vowed to find the perpetrator(s) of these hateful acts and stated that UCF ‘has a zero tolerance policy regarding incidents or bias in any form.’ But this is simply not enough. We are dismayed that in the weeks since the stickers and flyers appeared, neither you nor any other UCF administrator has yet to publicly condemn these postings as antisemitic, specifically targeting Jewish students and causing them to feel threatened and unsafe. A public statement demonstrates to the campus and wider communities that you will not tolerate acts of bigotry directed at Jewish students and that you are committed to addressing antisemitic acts with the same promptness and vigor as all other racial, ethnic and gender bigotry. A public statement is also the single most important step to deterring future acts of antisemitism,” the email said.
The correspondence suggested that UCF administration should publicly acknowledge and condemn these acts, publicly commit to educating university staff and police in identifying the hate crimes, adopt the U.S State Department’s definition of antisemitism to accurately identify the acts and allocate resources and educate students about antisemitism.
Some of the organizations in the correspondence include Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Israeli-American Council, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, Students and Parents Against Campus Anti-Semitism and many more.
“Taking these steps will show your students, their parents, University of Central Florida alumni, and the larger community that University of Central [Florida] stands firmly against bigotry and hatred, including antisemitism, and will protect all members of the campus community,” the email stated.
Check back on KnightNews.com for updates on this story.
