Jewish Federation OK with university’s response

Published 11:12 am Monday, November 21, 2016

 

The Jewish Federation of Oxford says the University of Mississippi’s response to swastikas being drawn on an elevator door in Residential College South has been “appropriate.”

The swastikas were found on Nov. 10, and last week the university announced that a student identified during surveillance footage review was referred to the Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct.

Email newsletter signup

The name of the student has not be released and so far, no criminal charges have been filed.

Federation spokesman Richard Gershon said while there’s been no communication between the university and the federation directly, he said since it was a student, the matter falls under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

“They (the University) have taken the matter seriously and we appreciate that,” Gershon said Friday.

After the incident, the university issued a statement condemning the act by the student.

As a community committed to our UM Creed and the success of our students and staff, we do not condone acts of bias and intolerance,” the statement read. “This racist, anti-semitic symbol has no place at UM.”

The Jewish Federation of Oxford was founded in 2015 as a way to provide events and educational programs for the Jewish community and for the broader Oxford and university community.

The federation also released a statement after the incident.

“The swastika invokes a period less than eighty years ago in which Jews and other minority groups were targeted for complete and total annihilation by those who appealed to its imagery,” the statement read.