WHAT TO KNOW
The blurry video clips show someone walking on the empty campus. Campus police believe at least three bananas hung in nooses were placed on campus Monday between 3:45 a.m. and 4:10 a.m.
Bananas marked with the letters "AKA," the abbreviation for Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically black sorority, were found in three locations of the university's campus starting Monday morning.
The racist displays were found on the same day student government president Taylor Dumpson, an AKA member, started the new position. She is the first black woman in the role.
In an email to students sent Tuesday morning, University President Dr. Neil Kerwin called the creation of the displays a hate crime.
"American University remains committed to principles of diversity, inclusion, common courtesy and human dignity, and acts of bigotry only strengthen our resolve. Anyone who does not feel similarly does not belong here," the email said.
The 12 p.m. campus town hall had a standing-room-only crowd. Members of Kerwin's President's Council on Diversity and Inclusion (PCDI) were set to attend, according to an email he sent to students. Campus police and D.C. police were on hand.
This is at least the third time in the past eight months that bananas have been used to harass African-American women on campus
In September 2016, an African-American woman said a banana was thrown at her. Another African-American woman found a rotten banana and obscene drawings on her dorm room door that same month.
Video Shows Suspect in American Univ. Hate Crime
I dealt with enough casual racism growing up k-12. I'm so glad I went to an HBCU.
- Bananas in nooses were found Monday in three locations on American University's campus.
- The racist displays were found the same day the first black woman to become student government president started in the role.
- Hundreds of students began marching on campus Tuesday afternoon, urging administrators to take on-campus racism seriously.
The blurry video clips show someone walking on the empty campus. Campus police believe at least three bananas hung in nooses were placed on campus Monday between 3:45 a.m. and 4:10 a.m.
Bananas marked with the letters "AKA," the abbreviation for Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically black sorority, were found in three locations of the university's campus starting Monday morning.
The racist displays were found on the same day student government president Taylor Dumpson, an AKA member, started the new position. She is the first black woman in the role.
In an email to students sent Tuesday morning, University President Dr. Neil Kerwin called the creation of the displays a hate crime.
"American University remains committed to principles of diversity, inclusion, common courtesy and human dignity, and acts of bigotry only strengthen our resolve. Anyone who does not feel similarly does not belong here," the email said.
The 12 p.m. campus town hall had a standing-room-only crowd. Members of Kerwin's President's Council on Diversity and Inclusion (PCDI) were set to attend, according to an email he sent to students. Campus police and D.C. police were on hand.
This is at least the third time in the past eight months that bananas have been used to harass African-American women on campus
In September 2016, an African-American woman said a banana was thrown at her. Another African-American woman found a rotten banana and obscene drawings on her dorm room door that same month.
Video Shows Suspect in American Univ. Hate Crime
I dealt with enough casual racism growing up k-12. I'm so glad I went to an HBCU.
