Framingham State University Condemns Racism After Graffiti Found

School leaders at Framingham State University are vowing to deal with the hate and help bring the community together after racist graffiti was discovered on the Massachusetts campus.

"As a community, we will emerge stronger and better, because we will learn from each other and respect each other," said President F. Javier Cevallos.

Cevallos is encouraging more open dialogue on campus about race, pushing listening sessions and promising to hire a more racially diverse faculty.

Hundreds packed Dwight Hall to condemn, vent concerns or simply listen.

Roomates Eunice Bwambok and Nicole Harvey say they found the phrase "[N words] live here," on their door at Larned Hall Sunday morning. Friday, a similar incident happened nearby on the same floor.

Authorities are investigating this as a hate crime, but have only a few leads.

Monday afternoon, school leaders created the hashtag #hateisnotaframilyvalue to encourage others to speak out.

But some students, like junior Marquis Knight, say the school missed the mark after cameras were only allowed to record prepared statements from school officials instead of giving students the option to go on the record.

"Tomorrow, when you guys are gone, are they going to talk to us anymore?" asked Knight.

Some students say the school's anti-discrimination policy needs to be beefed up, want mandatory cultural sensitivity training for all incoming freshman, and are asking faculty to introduce more racially diverse curriculum into the classroom.

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