Salisbury University students react to racist messages written on building wall

SALISBURY, Md. – Students at Salisbury University are taking a stand after senior Jay Copeland posted a viral video of what he found written on the walls of Fulton Hall. Derogatory and racist remarks targeted specifically at people of color.

“My goal was to expose the racism. It was also to separate the student or students that have vandalized our Fulton Hall building and have vandalized this institution,” said Copeland.

While many students were shocked to learn about what happened, others weren’t as surprised.

“To know that there are still people out there like that, that are looking solely at skin color, it’s really hurtful,” said freshman Jenny Marino.

“On this campus, we’ve had issues with people writing things. Like we had a chalking issue,” said senior Shahada Amir.

“I’m not completely surprised, but it is really sad to hear about these things continuing to happen. I know I went through my fair share of racist discrimination type of things that go on here. My first year I had someone call me the n-word,” said senior Julia Kwedi.

While university officials say they still don’t know who was involved in writing these messages they released a statement saying, “Salisbury University stands against racism, messages of exclusion and all other forms of hate. The SU Police Department is conducting a comprehensive investigation into this issue.”

“Something should be done for it. It shouldn’t happen anymore,” said senior Star James.

Students add that despite these hurtful comments, it’s not dividing the university, but rather bringing everyone together to let people know that these types of actions won’t be tolerated.