Ellensburg, WA – For the second time this year Central Washington University’s inclusive environment has been threatened with hateful acts. The university’s library was vandalized Thursday with “homophobic and politically partisan” comments.
The school responded to the incident with a statement that said “CWU has zero-tolerance for any act of hate or aggression against any member of our LGBTQIA+ community or any other member of our community… our facilities crews acted immediately to remove the vandalism and our campus police are investigating this act now.”
Students on campus say they don’t understand why this keeps happening. Earlier this year a pride flag was stolen from the student recreation center and burned by a CWU student. That student has since been arrested, but the negative comments continue.
CWU student James Genero said the people acting this way are only hurting themselves so he doesn’t understand why it was necessary.
“Why did they feel the need to do it? What were they trying to prove? Just why did they do it?” Genero said.
As a member of the LGBTQ community, Genero said in general he still feels safe on campus because these threats haven’t been physical and CWU is inclusive overall.
Another student I spoke to, Anwar Hassan, said it was surprising to see this sort of thing happen in this day and age.
“I feel like these things should not be okay especially on a school campus that’s meant to be coming together trading ideas and accepting one another so we can make a better future for ourselves and kids that come after us,” Hassan said.
Right now, University police are asking for the public’s help to find those responsible. If you have any information you are asked to call (509) 963-2111 or email the president’s office at cwu.president@cwu.edu.
Genero said he hopes the school deals with those responsible accordingly.
“I don’t know what was written on the library but at that point they need to be suspended or expelled they can’t get off with just a slap of the wrist,” Genero said.
