“We strongly condemn any symbols and actions that represent hate, intimidation or terror,” university housing officials said in a letter to the campus community this week. They said UNR wants to hold accountable the person who left the anti-Semitic remarks.
University Police Services are working on the case, a meeting of Juniper Hall residents was called to discuss the issue, support services have been made available for affected students, and a campus-wide town hall is planned when students return from spring break.
In addition, Jewish students and members of the Jewish community in Reno will be discussing the impact of anti-Semitic attacks during sessions at UNR dorms this week.
While rare, hate crimes are not unknown at UNR. A swastika was also reported in October 2017 and November 2018.
A report filed with the Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education found three incidents of hate crimes — all of them racial in nature — had been reported on UNR’s main campus in 2017, the highest number of any NSHE institution.
No hate crimes had been reported in either of the two previous years.
The UNLV campus saw two hate-crime incidents over the three-year period.
FBI statistics for 2017, the most recent available, show that three hate-crime incidents were reported in Reno. All of them involved sexual orientation, the FBI said. Statewide, five hate-crime incidents were reported during 2017.
