I am saddened and angry to pass along this news, our colleagues at

Teachers College are in need of our support, especially Dr.

Constantine. I hesitated to share this story since I know Dr.

Constantine, but now it is all over the media in New York.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUwttmNvW7iOK6GKRxlAY1OgnGeQD8S647QO1

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14496865

http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=165279

Created 10/09/2007 - 4:02pm

Published in the Columbia Spectator (http://columbiaspectator.com)

Noose Left on Door of Black Professor

By Amanda Erickson, Josh Hirschland

A hangman's noose was found pinned to the door of an African-American

professor's door at Teacher's College, administrators wrote in an

e-mail today.

The noose was discovered this morning and was reported to the New York

City Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force, members of which are

currently investigating the incident. Police and University officials

declined to name the professor, who the police described as a 44

year-old black woman, but students identified the victim as Professor

Madonna Constantine, who is in the Psychological Counseling department

and is known for her work on racism.

"The TC community and I deplore this hateful act, which violates every

Teachers College and societal norm," Teachers College President Susan

Fuhrman wrote in an e-mail to Teachers College's faculty and students.

University President Lee Bollinger denounced the incident.

"This is an assault on African Americans and therefore it is an

assault on every one of us. I know I speak on behalf of every member

of our communities in condemning this horrible action. I also want to

express our full support of Teachers College and President Susan

Furhman in dealing with this matter," Bollinger said in a statement.

"All of her Constantine's work on racism is disregarded. She is

just a black woman to them," Jasmine Alvarez, a representative to the

University Senate, said.

Antonios Saravanos, student Senator for Teacher's College, said that

there would be a meeting tonight at 9 p.m. in the Teachers College

dining hall to discuss the event, and that there would be a formal

Town Hall tomorrow in Grace Dodge Hall at 3:30 p.m. where Fuhrman

would speak.

Farrah Khan, a first-year student at TC and a member of the Black

Student Network, indicated that the event had rocked the small TC

campus. "I had a class at 5 and we talked about it for the whole two

hours," Khan said. "The very moment that we say racism is far away,

... something like this happens. this is on our campus, here not at

116th, but on our campus."

"As infuriating as it was, it was not a surprise," Khan said.

This afternoon, e-mails were flying around student listservs under the

heading "Jena at Columbia," referring to an incident which occurred

last December in Jena, La., when white students hung nooses from a

tree—which was typically a gathering spot for whites only—at Jena

School one day after six black students sat under it. Students planned

to meet tonight at 9;30 in the Intercultural Resource Center on 114th

Street to discuss reaction to the incident.

This comes less than two weeks after graffiti was found scrawled on

the stall of a bathroom in the International Affairs Building which

said, "Attention You pinko Commie Motherfuckers and Arab Towelheads:

America will wake up one day and Nuke Mecca, Medina, Tehran, Baghdad,

Jakarta, and all the savages in Africa. You will all be fucked!

America is for White Europeans."

By 7:30, media had already descended upon the small Teachers College

campus with representatives from CBS, ABC, and NY1 all broadcasting

from satellite trucks.

Anyone with information regarding the incident has been asked to

contact the 26th Precinct Detective Squad or John DeAngelis, chief of

Public Safety.

Keep checking www.columbiaspectator.com for updates.

Source URL:

http://columbiaspectator.com/node/27326