A rope fixture, inferred to be a noose, was found hanging on Salisbury University's campus. The image circulated on social media before being brought to the attention of the administration last night.
According to an email sent out to the student body by Dane Foust, vice president of Student Affairs, and Joan Williams, associate vice president for Diversity and Inclusion, the fixture "was determined to be the remnants of a support infrastructure for a bird feeder that was developed as part of a SU Green Fund initiative."
The email also reported that "SU’s Biological Sciences Department has confirmed that it had bird feeders hanging in a few locations on campus ... The feeders were not able to be maintained during COVID-19 restrictions last semester, so they were removed temporarily, but the ropes were left with the intention that the feeders eventually would be put back up. Today, all materials affiliated with the project have been taken down."
SU Police took a photo of the object next to a Gull Card to determine its size.
Foust and Williams added in the email that "[w]hile the angle of the image circulated does not accurately convey the small size and scale of the bird feeder’s hanging apparatus, SU officials certainly understand why the image is disturbing. Symbols like that are not representative of our campus and would not be tolerated."
By ALLISON GUY
Editor-in-chief
Featured image from BlackatSU Instagram page.