Jewish Studies Poster Defaced at Indiana U.
A Jewish studies poster in a lecture hall at Indiana University was defaced.
The word “Hitler” and a swastika were drawn on the poster in black marker, the Indiana Daily Student reported.
The vandalism was discovered earlier this week. Campus police believe the incident occurred last weekend, according to the student publication.
Campus police said in a statement Tuesday that the incident is still under investigation, but that several juveniles not associated with the university may have vandalized the sign.
In November 2010, a university employee used a rock to break the staff directory glass display case for the Robert A. and Sandra B. Borns Jewish Studies Program. Mark Zacharias, the scholarship coordinator of IU’s Hutton Honors College Scholarship, was dismissed after working at the university for seven years. On March 27, he pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service.
The following month, rocks were thrown through the windows of two campus Jewish student centers and a rock was thrown through the window of an apartment above the Chabad Jewish student center just off the university campus. In the latter incident, the rock nearly hit a student and put a hole in the opposite wall. Also, eight religious volumes in Hebrew removed from shelves at a university library were urinated on in eight bathrooms in the library area.
Approximately 4,000 Jewish students attend Indiana University.
The state of Indiana does not have a hate crimes statute.
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