In a letter sent campus-wide Tuesday, the president of the University of New Hampshire condemned “an increase in hate incidents” perpetrated in person and online against students, faculty and staff.
“We condemn all such acts and reiterate that we are committed to a diverse, inclusive and safe campus environment,” President Mark Huddleston wrote. “The attitudes and acts of a few cannot overtake our community if we stand together and say ‘not in our house.’ ”
While the email, co-signed by Provost Nancy Targett, makes no mention of this month’s presidential election, it comes at a time when racially charged incidents have been reported nationwide since Republican Donald Trump became president-elect.
Huddleston said racial slurs, spitting and bullying have been committed in person, and “rude, vulgar and vitriolic” messages have been left via emails, voicemail and social media. At least one of the elements he described is being investigated by police.
UNH police Chief Paul Dean wrote in an email Wednesday that his department is investigating “some emails sent to faculty containing inappropriate and disturbing language.”
Dean also said there was a spitting incident reported to police Nov. 13, but that it didn’t appear to be motivated by hate.
Some of the emails under investigation may have been sent to faculty within the school’s women’s studies department, which came under fire recently for using its official Facebook page to promote partisan causes and events.
One of its posts, captured in a screenshot, invited students to use supplies in the department office to make posters for an event hosted by the UNH College Democrats, called “Our Power Walk Out and March.”
“This is to show our solidarity with all people who are at risk of getting their rights taken away by a Trump presidency,” the event’s Facebook page explained.
It recommended bringing to the event signage with Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan: “Come with signs that say love trumps hate, stronger together, or whatever you want, and incorporate purple to signify our unity even across party lines.”
A spokesperson for the university, Erika Mantz, called the posts “troubling.” The women’s studies program Facebook page appears to have since been deleted.
But when counter-protestors appeared at the walk out event, a professor and former professor working for the university’s women’s studies program used their personal Facebook accounts to complain about their actions, according to a report by Campus Reform.
The conservative-leaning website posted screenshots of a post by a former professor, Courtney Marshall, showing the counter-protestors dressed as Richard Nixon and a gorilla. Commentators said they were either throwing or handing out pacifiers.
A faculty member of the women’s studies program, Robin Hackett, commented, “Time to call for an investigation leading to the expulsion of these students,” according to the Campus Reform screenshot. Her comment appears to have been deleted.
On Tuesday, more than a week after the walk out took place, the discussion section of the related Facebook event came back alive with commentators critical of the event and the university.
One with an avatar supporting Trump, Andrea Reynolds, suggested the women’s studies program’s partisan Facebook posts was in violation of state law prohibiting the use of government funds for political activity.
Another, Kevin McLaughlin, backed the counter-protestors: “They threw pacifiers at the cry babies, perfect!”
Dean, the UNH police chief, said in an email that there have been no hate crimes reported at UNH in years. His department is still reviewing “inappropriate” messages sent recently, he said.
“The department is reviewing some emails sent to faculty containing inappropriate and disturbing language. However, the incident remains an active ongoing investigation,” he wrote.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)
Editor’s note: The Kevin McLaughlin referenced in the story is not Kevin McLaughlin, a director and lecturer at the University of New Hampshire.