Visiting assistant professor of history Sarah Jacobson said they were walking to work yesterday morning before their first class when they noticed something was “different” about The Rock. After getting closer, Jacobson said their first thought was to contact Campus Safety.
Sometime before 8 a.m. yesterday, The Rock, which was originally painted in the colors of the transgender pride flag as a part of events celebrating International Trans Day of Visibility, was vandalized. According to Jacobson, the offenders used black and dark blue spray paint to write several phrases and symbols, including “Jesus,” “Only 2 Gender,” “O2G” and several crosses and hearts.
At 9:47 a.m., students received an email from the Office of Student Development announcing that The Rock would be covered with tarps before being repainted when the rain let up, writing that “This act constitutes discriminatory harassment under the Albion College Student Handbook.”
Before The Rock was vandalized, Jacobson said the LGBrits, a student organization centered on LGBTQIA+ issues and events, had written several statements in chalk on the sidewalk surrounding The Rock, including, “trans day of visibility,” “trans lives matter” and “human rights are trans rights.”
Dundee junior Amelia Douglass, a member of the LGBrits, said this vandalism feels “targeted.”
“The rock was in trans colors and is now in Albion colors because there was discrimination,” Douglass said. “So we can’t put the trans colors back up, because it’ll just get defaced again.”
According to Interim Director of Campus Safety Joey Koehn, “Campus Safety is investigating the incident.” Koehn added that if the “ongoing” investigation is able to “identify (the) individuals” behind the vandalism, “they will go through the conduct process.”
Nairobi, Kenya, senior Leone Macharia said receiving the email from Student Development responding to the defacement was “hard,” adding that it “affects you as a queer person.”
“It’s a reminder that your existence isn’t accepted or valued,” Macharia said. “Moments like this remind you it’s not fully safe.”
For Douglass, this vandalism is not the first time they have seen intolerance on campus and “nothing has been done about it,” noting homophobic graffiti being found in Wesley last year and an incident involving a student wearing a “klansman-like hood” the year before that.
“I feel like there’s a very big track record so far of them sweeping things like this under the rug, which I’m not happy about,” Douglass said.
Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students Leroy Wright said his office is prioritizing “urgency, student sensitivity and impact” in the aftermath of the defacement, adding that “we wouldn’t be doing a good job if we say that none of this is going to happen at Albion.”
“We don’t have a gate around our campus, we have diverse perspectives that come to our community, we have folks who believe and value different things, and that’s okay,” Wright said. “But we are not going to condone personal threats (or) harm to our community.”
Hudsonville sophomore Luee Hein said he grew up in a “Bible belt” town, and that he was “surprised” coming to Albion at “how such a small town had so much positivity about being inclusive.” After hearing about the vandalism, Hein said he was “devastated” and “disappointed.”
“This was not like people expressing their beliefs,” Hein said. “This was like meant to cause harm and hate, and in our country right now, there’s so much going on, there’s so many people that are put in the place of harm.”
In the future, Hein said he hopes the campus community will be “kind to each other.”
“Kindness is free,” Hein said. “You choose to be hateful.”
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