Students to protest FGCU’s response to racial slur drawing

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Some Florida Gulf Coast University students are preparing to protest their university’s response to the writing of a racial slur outside a professor’s office on Thursday.

The words “KILL (N-word)” were written in capital letters above the depiction of a black stick figure being hung on a tree. The drawing was on a whiteboard located outside a professor’s office at Seidler Hall, which is the building for FGCU’s arts and sciences program. The professor, Maria Rodgriguez, reported the incident to police on Oct. 12. Campus police believe the slur was written at some time after 6 p.m. but before 10 a.m. on that day, according to an incident report.

Police are not looking to arrest anyone for the incident, which they say was neither a hate crime nor vandalism. No video of the incident exists, according to campus police. Patrols of the area were increased, but students say the university is not doing enough to address the situation.

“They lynched the person on the tree,” one student, who did not want to be named in fear of retaliation, said of the drawing in a phone conversation. “We just found that out last night.”

A photo of the racial slur began circulating in students’ group messages as early as Wednesday evening. On Thursday, President Wilson Bradshaw sent a letter to students, faculty and staff, calling the incident “personally distressing.”

“While occurrences such as this are rare at Florida Gulf Coast University, we strongly condemn this hateful expression which is contrary to the civil and mutually respectful culture of our campus community,” Bradshaw wrote.

The student agrees that the drawing was shocking, but said many black students are concerned about the timing of the university’s response.

“We always thought that this would be the last campus where this would happen, but the fact that this is happening and they’re trying to sweep it under the rug is disturbing,” the student said.

It took the university exactly two weeks to notify its students of the incident. Students said Bradshaw’s letter only came after they saw images of the drawing. Something could have happened during those two weeks, one student said; now black students are growing fearful.

“It said ‘Kill them,'” the student said. “Whoever has this mentality — this person could be in my class secretly plotting.”

Students said they understand racism will continue to be an issue but that they wants their university to do more to protect students and punish those who threaten others. One student said the university administration took the incident lightly.

“I believe they tried to sweep it under the rug because they pride themselves in diversity. They probably thought it wasn’t that big of a deal,” one student said.

Students are holding a peaceful protest at 1 p.m. at FGCU. They hope to encourage the school to adopt severe repercussions for hateful language and mandatory lessons about racism.