Xavier University police said a Black Lives Matter flag was vandalized and signs from a group that supports “extremist ideologies and hate speech” were found scattered in public areas across campus.
The incident was first reported in a notification sent to students just after 7 p.m. on Saturday.
“(The Xavier University Police Department) has removed the material and is investigating the situation,” officials said. “There is no indication that anyone in our campus community is responsible for posting these signs.”
This is the third time over five days that a Cincinnati-area universities have been vandalized by hate groups.
On Wednesday, graffiti was found on Northern Kentucky University’s campus advertising the Patriot Front, a white nationalist hate group that formed in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
And in a statement released on Thursday, Thomas More University President Joseph Chillo said Patriot Front stickers had been found on campus property.
Though Xavier officials haven’t confirmed which group left the signs, the university’s student newspaper, the Xavier Newswire, posted pictures on its website of Patriot Front stickers found in different places on campus.
University officials and student groups were also quick to denounce the vandalism.
“Hate has no home in the Xavier community,” campus police said in the alert sent to students.
In a tweet posted Sunday morning, the Xavier University Student Government Association spoke out against the presence of hate speech on campus.
“We condemn white supremacy and racism in all forms,” the tweet said.
*story by The Enquirer
