Three days before the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, on Friday, September 27th, the CRLS administration discovered two swastika symbols written in dust on a windowsill on the 5th floor of the Rindge building of CRLS. According to an email sent by CRLS Principal Damon Smith, these hate symbols were identified at approximately 7:20 AM.

Although the CRLS community has not seen any action on this matter besides emails sent from the administration to inform it of the incidents, students and staff have been transparent about their thoughts towards the matter. Upon questioning, they shared their initial reactions after hearing about the incident. “Well, I guess we’re having another X-Block,” said sophomore Sabrina Shing. In the past after similar incidents, CRLS has held X-Blocks to process, learn about, and address the hateful imagery, though it is yet to be announced whether there will be an X-Block following the recent incidents. All interviewed community members had a similar sense of numbness towards the matter. “I wasn’t surprised that it happened, but I didn’t expect it to be done once again,” said freshman Prionti Talukdar. “I think whoever did it did it as a joke thinking it was going to get attention.” CRLS history teacher Lily Read explained that she was “disappointed, but not surprised, certainly not shocked” when she found out about the incident. She stated that “I do feel like our community is desensitized to this issue. It makes me wonder if they understand what they’re doing.” 

Many CRLS students felt as though the hate crime was not acknowledged with the magnitude it deserves. Another student, sophomore Grace VanBeaver, explained that she was “not surprised, [but] kinda disappointed in the administration that it keeps happening, [and that this behavior] is not going to stop if nothing happens about it.” 

This is not the first time swastika symbols have been displayed at CRLS. These anti-semitic images have tended to take place around the time of significant Jewish celebrations, such as Hannukah and Rosh Hashanah.  A swastika symbol written in saliva was found on a stairwell window of CRLS in December of 2018. Sophomore Gabriel Thorpe explained that “after this happened, it wasn’t properly addressed.” Thorpe feels as if emails to the community are not powerful enough to convey the severity of the incidents. 

Though the administration has not released information regarding who is responsible for the illustration of hate symbols, the email sent to the CRLS community discloses that the Office of Safety and Security is coordinating efforts with the police to investigate the matter. The email assures community members that when the responsible party is identified, disciplinary action will be taken. However, the email does not make clear whether the responsible party will be announced to the community. Many students feel as though these hate symbols are not an accurate representation of CRLS’ values—in particular, the core value of respect. Thorpe stated, “I think we could do better. People are deliberately doing that for attention and certain individuals think it’s okay to hate against groups of people for no reason.” He continued, saying, “[I would] like to see the administration hold serious consequences.”

This piece also appears in our October 2019 print edition.