MELISSA MONTOYA

MMONTOYA@NEWS-PRESS.COM

FGCU police are investigating a second racist message left on a campus whiteboard in less than a month.

In a letter to the campus, university President Wilson G. Bradshaw said library staff was notified of a message that read "Noose Tying 101" on a library whiteboard.

The incident occurred Tuesday between 2 and 3 p.m., according to a crime alert sent by the university police department Wednesday. Florida Gulf Coast University Police Chief Steven Moore said a patron noticed the writing, scribbled it out and then notified library staff, who then erased the writing.

"The library is a very busy place in the afternoons and we would hope that someone might have information that would assist in the investigation," Moore said.

The racially-motivated message is being investigated along with an Oct. 12 incident when a message that read "KILL (N-word)" and a drawing of a stick figure hanging from a tree appeared on a white board in Seidler Hall.

The culprit responsible for the first message has not been found.

"If you have any information about this or the earlier whiteboard incident, I strongly encourage you to come forward," Wilson said in his letter. "As we have recently reaffirmed, this kind of hurtful and hateful expression is unacceptable in our FGCU community, where we value and respect the diversity of everyone who studies, works and visits here. If you know something, please say something."

Anyone who has information is asked to call Detective Joe Anderson at 239-590-1956. Tips can be provided through the Guardian Eagle Safety App. The app can be downloaded at http://www.fgcu.edu/upd/guardian-app.html.

Anonymous tips can be made to the Silent Witness Program at 239-590-1906

FGCU students plan to protest over slur, school response

After the first incident, 250 students gathered in protest and took their concerns to the university's Board of Trustees last week. Students were upset because administration neglected to notify them of the racial epithet when it was first found.

That wasn't the case this time around.

"I do appreciate the fact that UPD and President Bradshaw did inform us in a timely fashion," said Jeremy Burke-Ingram, a 22-year-old software engineering student. "Somebody needs to have some type of consequential actions for these repeated offenses.

"If last time someone got in trouble or got expelled, I doubt we would be having a second incident," Burke-Ingram said.

Burke-Ingram and his friend, Keturah Pongo, helped organize last week's protest.

"I think people are not understanding the severity of the message that was left behind on the board," Pongo, 20, said.

Pongo, a political science student, said it was promising that Bradshaw had come forward to report the "Noose Tying 101" incident after it occurred because it means student concerns were heard.

In an letter to campus dated Monday, Oct. 31 Bradshaw apologized for not acting quicker when the first racist message was found. Though the message was hateful and hurtful, it was not deemed a credible threat, he said.

"In retrospect, given the understandable emotional reaction of our community, my decision about notification in this matter would have been different," Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said UPD patrols were increased in hopes of catching, deterring or gaining additional information on the epithet.

While no one has been reprimanded for the incident, it has started a conversation on campus that could lead to some changes.

Bradshaw said he will ask the Office of Academic Affairs to add a diversity/inclusion component to the new faculty orientation. He has also directed college deans to work with Director off Institutional Equity and Compliance Brandon Washington on new opportunities within colleges.

Pongo's group, the Coalition of Black Organizational Leaders, has also been invited to participate in a review of the Student Code of Conduct. Pongo said the group is expected to meet with Bradshaw again to see what will come next.

"It’s a step in the right direction," Pongo said.

However, the slurs and racial messages have caused her to change the way she acts on campus, Pongo added.

"Since the first incident, yeah, I feel threatened," said Pongo, who arrived in Florida for school from Ghana. "Not just me, but the black population is really conscious. When we go out, we walk with somebody.

"I know not to walk around by myself," she said.

Both Pongo and Burke-Ingram say there is a racial divide on campus, but they've never seen this kind of attitude carried out with such boldness.

"It wasn’t anything that caused us to protest," Burke-Ingram said. "Nowadays, there's definitely an unsettling feeling.

"If we have people being so blatantly racist, imagine what we don’t see."

FGCU students protest over slur, offensive drawing