LITTLE FALLS — Two Montclair State University students who reported racist graffiti written on their dorm room door are facing charges after campus police determined they were actually responsible for the message, authorities said.

Olivia McCrae and Tanasia Linton, both 19 and from Newark, were arrested on campus Tuesday afternoon and charged with making false reports, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, according to the university.

The arrests came a week after the roommates reported a hateful message aimed at African-Americans and women scrawled in marker on their door at the Heights residence complex Feb. 7.

Both women are African-American, authorities said.

That same day, students had gathered for a unity rally in response to a string of bias incidents on campus that included threatening anti-gay messages written on walls in the student center and in a note left under the door of a room that serves as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center.

The university will start holding monthly town hall meetings "to address student concerns and issues," the dean of students, Rose Mary Howell, said today in an e-mail.

University spokeswoman Diane Reed did not know whether McCrae and Linton attended the unity rally. She said today she did not have a motive for the women’s alleged crimes.

The university had beefed up security, posting police with guns on the rooftops of buildings near the quad for the gathering.

Nic Corbett contributed to this report.

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