A series of racially motivated incidents at the University Plaza apartments, including vandalism and scrawling of racial epithets on walls and doors, was reported to Vestal Police two weeks ago. According to Jesse Nathaniel Reed, who was among those reporting the vandalism, the incidents are connected to a pattern of racist vandalism that began approximately two months ago at the off-campus student housing complex.
Reed, a sophomore at Binghamton University and the Student Association’s vice president for multicultural affairs (VPMA), first noticed the vandalism when he saw the word “n—-r” written on a dry-erase board on the front door of a friend’s apartment approximately two months ago. On Feb. 4, Reed noticed more racial slurs written in wet cement on a wall at Mario’s Pizza, a business located in the complex, including the words “Negroes,” “KKK,” “Kurds” and “ch–ky,” the latter referring to individuals of Asian descent. He reported the incident to University Plaza, which in turn filed a report with the Vestal Police Department.
According to Reed, the following day more racial epithets, including the phrase “N—–s smell,” were found on the same dry erase board involved in the initial incident. Reed said he’s certain that the events are connected.
Following the series of incidents, Reed and two other friends from the apartment that were targeted by the vandal or vandals requested relocation to another building in University Plaza. According to an account of the events provided by Reed and the other residents involved, “the totality of the circumstance left all of the residents of Unit 2203 and guests present with an unsettling feeling of helplessness.” All three moved to different apartments shortly after.
The main concern of the students who reported the graffiti is how University Plaza management and the BU administration which has ties to the complex will respond to the situation.
“It’s really important,” Reed said. “The question is, how is the Plaza going to respond to this kind of thing happening?”
According to Gail Glover, a spokeswoman for the University, there is no direct link between BU and University Plaza. Rather they are connected through the Binghamton Foundation, which according to its Web site is “a not-for-profit corporation established to raise funds that further the purpose and mission of Binghamton University.” The Binghamton Foundation in turn established University Plaza LLC, the corporation which owns University Plaza. The property is being leased from Newman Development Group and managed by Ambling Companies Inc.
Beth Horner, a spokesperson for Ambling, said that an investigation is being conducted to find out who is responsible for the graffiti.
“We are working with the authorities to find out the person or persons responsible,” Horner said, “but other than that there’s really not much more that we can do in terms of that one incident, which is the only incident that we are aware of that occurred on our property.”
The Binghamton Foundation has stated that it is working together with Ambling to deal with the issue.
In a statement from Sheila Doyle, assistant vice president for development for the Binghamton University Foundation and executive director for University Plaza LLC, “the Foundation is confident that Ambling Management, which has a strong reputation and is nationally recognized for managing similar projects at other campuses, will take appropriate steps to look into the matter.”
However, Ambling and University Plaza appear to have not taken steps to alert residents to the problems that occurred.
“University Plaza is not responsible for what happened,” Reed said, “but people who live here and people who move here should know that this could happen here.”
A committee called “Stand,” which was formed by Reed and the SA to address this issue, met with Rodger Summers, BU’s vice president for student affairs, to discuss further action. On Feb. 17, Summers sent a letter to Chris Ryan, property manager at University Plaza, asserting the University’s support for the students who are concerned about the incident.
“We support our students in their concerns about the alleged incident and strongly encourage you to look into this matter as soon as possible,” he said. “If students feel that the described incidents will compromise their safety, they will avoid living at the Plaza and will also influence those currently housed there.”
Reed hopes to work with the administration through the VPMA office to raise awareness about this issue and create an environment where residents can feel safe at University Plaza.
“It’s not just a question of black people or white people, the things written affected people everywhere,” he said.