UL students are taking a stand against racial graffiti that was written on campus.
University police were notified about the two incidents on Thursday morning and are still investigating. They say it’s too early to tell if the same person or people wrote both racial slurs.
Campus officials say if a student did this, they will be expelled and could also possibly face criminal charges
UL Police Spokesman Lt. Billy Abrams told KATC’s Dannielle Garcia that the two instances of racial slurs were both found in F.G. Mouton Hall: one in a printing room and the other written on a banner.
But today, students were pleased to see a different message surrounding the building.
“I was so happy when I passed this on my way to class,” said UL junior Tanesha Bartley.
As students walked by the building, they could see colorful messages, preaching love and support chalked onto the sidewalks.
This was a stark contrast from the racial slurs that were posted in the same building just days earlier.
“I feel it’s wrong to discriminate against any race or religion or anything like that,” said Bartley.
“Well, honestly, I was kind of in shock,” said Marcela Flores, a student who works in the printing room where one of the racial slurs was written on a filing cabinet. “This is a university that is full of people from different cultures, people of different races, and it’s just really sad that there are people out here who think that way.”
Another student said one of her friends decided to write the inclusive words on the sidewalks, hoping it will spread more than the messages of hate.
“We want to preach messages of love and inclusion,” said Marguerite Anders. “Just to remind everyone that that’s not how the majority of our university feels and that whoever wrote those messages, they’re the minority. They’re the ones who aren’t really welcomed on our campus.”
Students say they hope to see more words like this more often.
“I saw it. I was like, ‘thank you,’ and I hope to see more messages like that across campus,” said Bartley.
“I definitely want to feel more accepted where I am, especially because I am a Hispanic student, and I’m a woman. So, I want to feel accepted everywhere I go. So, seeing these messages makes me feel good,” said Flores.
Several other students we spoke to say they’re thankful to see university officials taking a firm stance of zero tolerance for this behavior.
You can read UL’s response to the incidents here.
