2008 Woodie Awards
Bohn Hall Graffiti Declared Bias Crime
Suspect Arrested After Swastika Discovery
Jessica Havery
Issue date: 11/11/04 Section: News
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Timothy Clark, a Montclair State University freshman, has been arrested and charged with a bias crime for allegedly scrawling swastikas and racist graffiti in Bohn Hall, Director of Public Information Bob Quarteroni, said in a press release.
"Montclair State University has established a zero tolerance policy for acts that create a hostile educational environment for any of our students or employees, and we enforce it to the limit," Montclair State University's Vice President for Student Development and Campus Life, Karen A. Pennington, said.
To encourage possible witnesses to come forward with information regarding the incident, the Office of Residence Life posted signs, alerting the residents of Bohn Hall of the recent crimes. The signs offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible, Pennington said.
Clark, a commuter student from Hewitt, was arrested for the fourth degree indictable offense, after witnesses reported that they had seen three individuals, one with a marker in his hand, running on the 10th floor of the residence hall, Quarteroni said.
In addition to flyers and rewards posted by Residence Life, the University has taken additional steps to address the situation.
"To provide counseling and to listen to the concerns of the Bohn Hall residents, a [floor] meeting was held," Pennington said. "A number of University representatives were on hand, including University Police, [Jenn Solomon] the President of Hillel, the student Jewish organization, and several staff members from the Violence Against Women project who are trained in the nature of hurtful words."
"Over 35 residents showed up for the meeting," Solomon said. "Out of that group, only four were Jewish. The non-Jewish presence really opened my eyes and made me feel comfortable."
Representatives from the Anti-Defamation League were invited to attend the meeting. Yet, while they would be happy to work on educational programming with the University in the future, ADL representatives felt it was not necessary for them to attend the meeting because the school has an appropriate plan in place to deal with this type of situation, Pennington said.
"Montclair State University has established a zero tolerance policy for acts that create a hostile educational environment for any of our students or employees, and we enforce it to the limit," Montclair State University's Vice President for Student Development and Campus Life, Karen A. Pennington, said.
To encourage possible witnesses to come forward with information regarding the incident, the Office of Residence Life posted signs, alerting the residents of Bohn Hall of the recent crimes. The signs offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible, Pennington said.
Clark, a commuter student from Hewitt, was arrested for the fourth degree indictable offense, after witnesses reported that they had seen three individuals, one with a marker in his hand, running on the 10th floor of the residence hall, Quarteroni said.
In addition to flyers and rewards posted by Residence Life, the University has taken additional steps to address the situation.
"To provide counseling and to listen to the concerns of the Bohn Hall residents, a [floor] meeting was held," Pennington said. "A number of University representatives were on hand, including University Police, [Jenn Solomon] the President of Hillel, the student Jewish organization, and several staff members from the Violence Against Women project who are trained in the nature of hurtful words."
"Over 35 residents showed up for the meeting," Solomon said. "Out of that group, only four were Jewish. The non-Jewish presence really opened my eyes and made me feel comfortable."
Representatives from the Anti-Defamation League were invited to attend the meeting. Yet, while they would be happy to work on educational programming with the University in the future, ADL representatives felt it was not necessary for them to attend the meeting because the school has an appropriate plan in place to deal with this type of situation, Pennington said.