University of Maryland Police Investigate Anti-LGBTQ Messages in Dorms

Dormitory whiteboards were defaced with anti-LGBTQ messages and a swastika at the University of Maryland. The messages, which authorities are now investigating as a "hate-bias incident," were found in two separate dorms, according to a Wednesday report from UMD police.

UMD police were first called to Queen Anne's Hall Sunday around 3:40 p.m. A student reported seeing anti-LGBTQ language on several whiteboards and overhearing homophobic language the night after the hate speech was found, reports KGO-TV, a local ABC affiliate.

Police said the messages were written between Thursday and Saturday.

Sunday evening, university police responded to a second incident at 8:07 p.m. at La Plata Hall, where a swastika was found on a whiteboard. Officers believe it was drawn earlier in the day.

The incidents occurred less than one week after the fall semester began.

Police have conducted interviews with witnesses and are reviewing security camera footage and card-swipe records as part of an active investigation of the incidents. "The University of Maryland Police Department takes these matters very seriously," Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas, a spokeswoman for UMD police, said in the statement. "As our investigations continue, we call on our community for their help." Those with information are encouraged to contact UMD police.

The Univesity of Maryland also released a statement in response to the incidents.

"These behaviors do not reflect the values of the University of Maryland," the statement read. "These types of hateful incidents undermine our dedicated work to foster a safe, inclusive campus. The University of Maryland Police Department has assigned detectives to investigate each incident, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Department of Resident Life, the LGBT Equity Center, and the Counseling Center are offering support and resources."

The University of Maryland is not the only college that has had to contend antigay messaging. In 2016, a Jewish fraternity at Brown University was defaced with similar rhetoric. In 2010, a gender-neutral dorm at Southern Oregon University was targeted as was University of California Davis.

Controversy recently erupted at the Amazon company headquarters when ten Pride posters where written over with homophobic and transphobic rhetoric.

"I know people personally who came very close to quitting Amazon as a consequence of those defacements," an employee wrote in an email chain about the events.