An incident of vandalism that hit San Diego State’s Black Resource Center over the weekend has prompted a police investigation.
University spokeswoman LaMonica Everett-Haynes said in an email the incident involved a break-in resulting in a broken television and the movement of other items around the building, which is located on Lindo Paseo just west of Campanile Drive.
The incident is believed to have taken place sometime between Friday night and Sunday morning, Everett-Haynes said. No center employees were present at the time of the break-in.
“SDSU focuses on providing an environment of safety and respect for all community members, and does not tolerate this type of behavior,” the university said in a Facebook.
This incident marks the second time the Black Resource Center has been an apparent target this semester. In early March, a video caught by a non-student captured the sound of a racial slur being shouted by a group of men driving by the center. The incident sparked words of condemnation from the university and multiple healing circles on campus.
Since the March incident, the university has been working on a number of safety initiatives to better protect the Black Resource Center, according to a campus-wide email sent by Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer J. Luke Wood. This weekend’s incident has prompted the university to consider additional safety measures that could be implemented and to increase the university police presence around the center.
“It bears repeating that we each hold the responsibility to contribute to a world that is free from discrimination and harassment,” Wood said in the email. “This recent act of vandalism may have targeted specific members of our community, but stands as an offense to us all, as such behavior violates both the law and the values of our university.”
University officials encouraged anyone with information on the break-in to reach out to campus police at (619) 594-1991 or policeinvestigations@sdsu.edu.
