On Sunday, Oct. 1, a bias incident was reported on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Martyrs’ Court Goupil Hall. It was reported that the door was vandalized with a racial and misogynistic threat. After this was reported, Public Safety began an investigation and the NYPD was notified.
The individual responsible — who was not a member of the Fordham community — was identified and banned from campus.
“Staff have been supporting the students who were understandably upset to find this on their white board/door. Though the offender is not a Fordham student, these actions shocked and offended our community and are in stark contrast to our values,” said Christopher Rodgers, dean of students at Rose Hill.
Fordham’s student handbook has a section called “Bias-Related Incidents and/or Hate Crimes.” Under this section, the university details what an incident is and what protocol is.
The handbook states that when a bias-related incident or hate crime is reported that after consultation with the victim/complainant and consideration of the case that “an investigation of the incident will be conducted by the Department of Public Safety and/or the Dean of Students so that appropriate student conduct action may be taken.” Further, when the incident possibly involves a university employee as the perpetrator of the victim, the Office of Human Resources will be notified and participate in the investigation.
Under the Frequently Asked Questions section of the student handbook, it notes that students who want to report an incident can go to the Department of Public Safety office, any university staff, resident assistant or commuter assistant. Students also have an option to confidentially discuss the situation and the options with someone from Fordham Counseling and Psychological Services or Campus Ministry staff if they are not ready to file an official complaint.
According to the annual security and fire safety report, there were two hate crimes reported in 2020 — both acts of vandalism — no hate crimes reported in 2021 and one hate crime reported in 2022 — an assault characterized by racial bias — on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.
According to the 2021 hate crime statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 8.1% of hate crimes that year took place at schools/colleges.
In 2020, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that the three most common types of hate crimes in degree-granting postsecondary institutions were intimidation, vandalism and simple assault. The most frequently reported categories of bias motivated hate crimes were race, sexual orientation and ethnicity. In 2020, 571 reported crimes were classified as hate crimes on the campuses of post-secondary institutions — though this number is 25% lower than in 2019 most likely due to online classes.
From 2012-2013 across Fordham’s campus, there were four bias incidents with the first three happening all within a month’s timespan.
Martyrs’ Court has also been investigated for bias incidents before. The LaLande wing had two separate incidents in a one-week timespan in September 2015.
The first incident was a racial slur scratched into the door while the second was a swastika scratched into a stairwell wall. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force deemed the vandalism to be a “non-bias criminal mischief case.”
Two more incidents occurred in November 2015 at different campus locations, and a fifth one during the same school year occurred in March 2016.
In response to these bias incidents, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president emeritus, created the Diversity Task Force to study the climate of the university, which resulted in a 10-page report about a timeline for a diversity action plan.
