A noose was found hanging around the office door of a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College on Oct. 9 in what police are investigating as a hate crime. Madonna Constantine, the black victim of the incident, who has published research on multiculturalism in education and counseling, said she would "not be silenced."
"I am upset that the Teachers College community has been exposed to such an unbelievably vile incident, and I would like us to stay strong in the face of such a blatant act of racism," Constantine said in her statement. "Hanging the noose on my office door reeks of cowardice and fear on many, many levels."
Teachers College President Susan Furhman also decried the incident as a "hateful act, which violates every Teachers College and societal norm," according to the college's press release.
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger also issued a statement, saying, "this is an assault on African Americans and therefore it is an assault on every one of us," according to the release.
Police currently have no suspects in the investigation, but are reviewing hours of video surveillance the university turned over to the New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Investigations Unit after initially refusing to do so, Police Department Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told ABC News.
The university did not turn over the tapes at first to protect the privacy of students, according to an Oct. 12 ABC News article. The faculty offices of the Teacher's College are accessible only by faculty, students and other individuals with identification.
The NYPD is also using DNA fingerprinting technology to identify the person who hung the noose.
The case is being looked into by the U.S. Department of Justice and the office of the New York Attorney General, according to the article.
A town hall meeting was held Oct. 10 for members of the university community to ask questions and express grievances to a panel. An hour and a half before the meeting began, students assembled outside of the building chanting, "No more nooses," with signs that read "Intolerance is Intolerable," "Say No to Racism Every Day" and "We All Live in Jena," referring to an incident in Jena, La., where several white high school students were not prosecuted for hanging nooses in trees.
New York State Sen. Bill Perkins called the incident a wake-up call that "even in the Ivy League Towers in Columbia University in 2007, we might as well be in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1809," according to a release.
Constantine has written extensively about multiculturalism in education and studies, cultural competence in counseling and mental health issues of people of color and immigrant populations, according to her curriculum vitae.
