HANOVER — Dartmouth College officials found a swastika etched into dirt on the side of the Green last month, according to an email the college’s provost sent to the community.

The Department of Safety and Security found the symbol, which represents antisemitism, genocide and hatred, after responding to a notice from a person who found it on Thursday, April 21, the email said. The department documented the incident, removed the drawing “immediately” and extended support to the person who reported it. 

The swastika was discovered after the college commemorated Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which ran from the evening of Monday, April 17, to the evening of Tuesday, April 18, with the reading of the names of the children murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

“Antisemitism has been on the rise in the U.S. and has no place at Dartmouth,” the email signed by Provost David Kotz and Senior Vice President and Senior Diversity Officer Shontay Delalue said.

Hanover Police Lt. Mike Schibuola said the college did not notify his department of the incident, but the department has reached out to the college’s safety and security office to follow up.

“This is clearly a concerning incident since it appears tied directly to the college’s commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Schibuola said in a Wednesday email. “We would ask that our community members reach out to the Hanover Police Department immediately when they observe any symbols of hate at any location or manner so we can properly investigate it.”

This is not the first time an antisemitic act has taken place at the college. Two students shot out the lights on a public menorah display during Hanukkah in December 2020. The now-former students involved in that incident reached agreements to avoid prosecution including community service and restitution payments. 

 

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