A University of Wisconsin student found a piece of paper holding a hateful threat directed at her and her friends under her door Thursday, marking another incident of hate and bias on campus.
UW student Tashi Limpscomb posted a picture of the piece of paper with #TheRealUW on Facebook and a message saying that her friend Luana Owens found it under her door Thursday morning.
“This is #TheRealUW and this campus is in for a #RealRudeAwakening,” Limpscomb said in the Facebook post. “We deserve this education, but this campus does not deserve its students of color.”
The paper includes an explicative message and four lines at the bottom, symbolizing four women in a picture when they were traveling for #TheRealUW, including Limpscomb and Owens. One of the lines is crossed out.
UW spokesperson Meredith McGlone said the university received a report of the incident late Thursday afternoon and is in the process of investigating the issue.
“To reiterate our stand on issues of hate and bias, we want to foster a more diverse campus climate,” McGlone said. “Dean of Students Lori Berquam also announced yesterday a new website dealing with these issues.”
Berquam posted a welcome message Wednesday on the new campus climate website McGlone mentioned. In the message, Berquam listed six initiatives UW is working on to promote a culture of civility and inclusion.
These initiatives are ways to help build a campus where everyone is welcome, she said in the message.
“We’ve consistently been asked what happens to those who perpetrate acts of hate and bias,” Berquam wrote in the message. “We can tell you that as a university, we are committed to sanctions, accountability and education where appropriate.”
Marc Lovicott, UW Police Department spokesperson, said the department has not received an incident report so they are not conducting an investigation at this time.