The fourth instance of discriminatory graffiti vandalism was found at San Francisco State University on Nov. 28, as stated in a campus-wide email.
Jamilla Moore, vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, emailed students to inform them of antisemitic graffiti.
“At SF State, we condemn antisemitism and any language or behaviors that promote violence against Jewish people. The graffiti is disturbing, disappointing, and does not reflect the values of San Francisco State University,” said the email.
Kent Bravo, SFSU’s public affairs and communications specialist, shared an extended statement from the university.
The statement reads, “We support the rights of all students to express themselves but must express disappointment in any message that contains threatening language. SF State condemns antisemitism, and we are proud of the work we’ve done to foster and promote a positive climate for our Jewish students. ”
SF State has collaborated with the Campus Climate Assessment Project to develop a measurable, actionable plan for moving forward in such situations, according to Fredrick Smith, associate vice president of Equity & Community Inclusion.
“We continue to support our Jewish students with our Coordinator of Jewish Student Life and Interfaith Programs with individual and group support, programs, and educational opportunities,” Smith said. “We are disappointed that people would choose to use threatening language against any community at SF State.”
Roger Feigelson is the executive director of San Francisco Hillel, which provides support and programming for Jewish students on campus.
“I think it’s tragic and unacceptable,” said Feigelson. “I’m super happy that the administration jumped on it quickly to both remove it and send out a note to the community that it doesn’t reflect our values.”
Feigelson went on to say that SFSU has a challenging environment for Jewish students. However, the school has been trying to combat these instances of hate.
“What’s really made a difference recently is that SFSU has joined the Campus Climate initiative to help setting up protocols, policies and procedures on how to deal with these situations,” said Fiegelson. “I think that’s really set up the University to be much more effective, quick and knowledgeable on how to deal with these issues.”
Feigelson also mentioned that students aren’t entirely comfortable expressing themselves on campus.
“You hear from students that need to hide their Jewish identity. They need to hide their Star of David necklace when they’re on campus,” said Figelsob.
On Oct. 9th, anti-LGBTQ graffiti was discovered at the top level of the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Two days later, anti-transgender graffiti was discovered on the sidewalk of the west campus green residence hall construction site.
Jeremy Lark, the director of the Queer & Trans Resource Center, expressed their discontent with the environment at SF State following this semester’s graffiti.
“I’m honestly not surprised in the least bit,” said Lark. “SFSU has been leaning on its social justice reputation for so long without doing the work.”
Lark also expressed their opinion on the university’s lack of involvement in stopping incidents like these from happening.
“The university can have their meetings and fight for weeks and weeks over how they can release a statement, but they’re not actually doing anything about it,” said Lark. “The students have to do all the work on their behalf, and they’re refusing to even provide those students with the support they need.”
University PD is currently investigating yesterday’s graffiti. Currently, no evidence identifies the party or parties responsible. If you have any information about the vandalism, contact the Division of Campus Safety at (415) 338-2222.
