Janel England
News Editor
On the morning of April 30, red graffiti was discovered on the small patio located on Pearl Street next to the Admissions Office.
The graffiti consisted of the phrases “Kill liberals,” “Fuck Dean Brown” and “Comms will win” as well as multiple depictions of the hammer and sickle, a well-known communist symbol. One of the benches and a tree at the site were also tagged with indecipherable markings.
The incident, as of press time, was still under investigation. However, Associate Director of Security and Protective Services Joe Kirk said of the investigation, “We have a couple of leads at this point in time, and kind of feel like we know who might have done it.”
“The fact that Dean Brown’s name was mentioned makes it obviously more likely a student than not a student. But it is something that we’re keeping all options open and thinking about all of the possibilities. We’ve gotten a couple of tips from a couple of different sources, and so we’re just trying to follow up on those,” added Kirk.
As of press time, the College had yet to notify the campus community of the incident. Kirk attributed this to the fact that the incident is currently under investigation. “We look and try to figure out [if there is] some merit or validity to what is being said, meaning is it an actual death threat or is it just someone spouting off — whatever the case may be. It is concerning to us obviously,” said Kirk.
Kirk also acknowledged that because of current events, the graffiti’s message was particularly alarming.
“We’re hopefully going to bring in the person either today or tomorrow who is responsible for it. I think in this era of harassment or discrimination, or whatever you want to call it, that seems to be going on across the country — this falls within that line of the political climate that has been going on. When the person puts Russian symbols as part of the graffiti along with the issue against liberals, you know, that becomes concerning again,” said Kirk.
Students on both side of the political spectrum are condemning the graffiti. Fritz Schoenfeld ’17, president of College Democrats said, “I appreciate student expressing themselves, but vandalism is definitely against the rules and using the word ‘kill’ before any group of people makes this a threat, which needs to be taken seriously.”
Drake Schwenke ’18, president of the Wooster Right-Wingers, said of the graffiti, “We as students can only make assumptions and deduce from what evidence that has been presented to us at the scene. Broken beer bottles, a smashed spray can cap, and crudely painted lines suggest that whoever did this was drunk and the late hour in which the event is reported to have taken place suggest that the perpetrators were likely following a night of revelry. There are rumors abuzz that a themed party that would have involved Communist imagery took place Saturday night and it would logically follow that whoever did this came from there.”
He further iterated Shoenfeld’s point: “We have a close-knit community here despite our differences and while I think that the graffiti was representative of a mere drunken May Day political shenanigan we hope that the College recognizes the severity of these depictions and acts accordingly.”