UWF Issues Statement On Nooses Found On Campus

April 17, 2012

The University of West Florida has issued the following statement concerning two nooses found on their campus in the past week.

Since Wednesday, April 11, two nooses were found on the University campus. These incidents were reported to University Police, and an investigation is ongoing. This type of speech will not be tolerated. The University strives to create and maintain a community that is free of harassment, intimidation and/or humiliation for all students, faculty and staff.
Students were informed of the first incident via email by the vice president of student affairs on Saturday. The person(s) responsible may be subject to multiple criminal charges and, if the perpetrator is a student, disciplinary action by the University, up to and including expulsion.

The University Police Department has increased police patrols on campus and is actively looking for anyone behaving suspiciously.

UWF faculty, staff, students and visitors are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the University Police Department at 850-474-2415. Those with information may also submit an anonymous report via the UWF Police Department Silent Witness service online at http://uwf.edu/uwfpolice/silentwitness.cfm.

Comments

14 Responses to “UWF Issues Statement On Nooses Found On Campus”

  1. srosaman on April 18th, 2012 9:53 pm

    the nooses dont bother me , but when I start seeing those colt 1911 i get a little aintssey. I just think kidsbgoofing off everyone needs to chill it aint 1954 anymore.

  2. James Broel on April 18th, 2012 9:41 pm

    CD and Ole Goat, just because you don’t think a noose is a big deal that doesn’t mean that it is not a big deal to others who may find it quite offensive. I fully support the investigation of UWF.

  3. Nightrider on April 18th, 2012 8:21 pm

    I think that the noose situation is idiotic. Just plain childish. But really ppl….have we not been milking this racial thing and slave thing way to long. That was over 40 years ago. Let it go. Heck, in today’s time more Caucasians are treated with bias than African Americans are. I have nothing against African Americans or any other race I’m just saying that its about time to start letting some stuff go. STOP DWELLING ON THE PAST.

  4. David Huie Green on April 18th, 2012 6:19 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Never saw why a noose is such a big deal. ”

    Nooses were used historically to illegally kill people for a number of slights and offenses. They were used on any offender but many blacks considered themselves targeted by nooses. Groups of whites would hang some black person without a trial and play with the body for hours, having their pictures taken, cutting off souvenirs.

    Knowing that fact, anyone leaving a noose hanging anonymously is generally targeting blacks and trying to intimidate them just as anyone drawing a Swastika is intending to send a message of hatred to Jews. That is why it is called speech, it is used to send a message of unwelcome and hatred.

    (Friends don’t terrorize friends.)

    The fact that it is done anonymously also lets the recipient know the intimidator is a coward, afraid to openly say what he dislikes, where everyone can know who it is. It has the added effect of making people wonder who might be out to get them, maybe they’re acting friendly but really filled with hatred, waiting for the chance to ambush the unwary.

    That’s why it is frowned upon by decent people.

    David explaining

  5. Ole Goat on April 18th, 2012 2:52 pm

    I agree with you CD. Not that big of a deal.

  6. EJ on April 18th, 2012 6:22 am

    Well Not Fighter, if I were to see a noose I would not be shaking in my boots because I have never stolen anyone’s horses. They did hang horse thieves, didn’t they?

  7. que mark on April 18th, 2012 1:00 am

    Csi makes it seem like dna is always there and every crime is solved like that. That’s just not the case for the judicial system or real life. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but not everyone seems to know how to do so constructively. Like my mother always said “if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all”

  8. Lover Not Fighter on April 17th, 2012 5:09 pm

    @CD.. Really? Like Really? In A Movie When You See A Noose And Its Being Used Than It’s Being Used. In Real Life If You See A Noose In This Situation That UWF Is In It’s Ither A Joke Or A Message Being Sent. Now For It To Happen Twice I Would Like To Say That It Is A Message Being Sent. And The Reason Why When You See A Noose And It Does NOT Bother You Is Because You Feel Like Your No Going To Be The One It’s Used On. I Bet If You Lived Around The Time Your Ancestors Lived When You Would Even Hear The Word You Would Be Shaking In Your Boots Because You Don’t Know What’s Going To Happen, When It’s Going To Happen And To Who.

  9. CD on April 17th, 2012 12:42 pm

    Never saw why a noose is such a big deal. At least 3 of my ancestors were hanged and the mere sight of a noose doesn’t raise my ire. Besides, we see them used in movies, so why aren’t the producers of those movies censured!

  10. Oversight on April 17th, 2012 10:08 am

    Sherlock watches too much CSI.

  11. Sherlock Holmes on April 17th, 2012 7:43 am

    One way of finding out who this perpetrator is called DNA. I’m pretty sure whoever tied this “speech” or better yet noose had left all kinds of evidence on this rope. I hope UWF don’t let this go by the wayside because of the cost to find out.

  12. who knows on April 17th, 2012 7:42 am

    Get a life!!

  13. Diane D on April 17th, 2012 7:17 am

    A noose is not speech. We all know what a noose represents, so stop trying to sugarcoat this ! Only when we are honest about what is really going on can we began to change it.

  14. Carolyn Bramblett on April 17th, 2012 6:32 am

    A noose is not speech. Burning a cross on someone’s yard isn’t speech. That would/should be arson. Hanging a noose should be considered endangerment.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News