BY DANIEL MASSEY
Special to Newsday; Staff writer Zachary R. Dowdy contributed to this story.
October 10, 2007
A black professor at Columbia University's Teachers College found a hangman's noose on her office door yesterday, an act that university officials immediately condemned and reported to police.
"The Teachers College community and I deplore this hateful act, which violates every Teachers College and societal norm," Susan Fuhrman, president of the college, said in a statement.
Fuhrman added that she and Provost Tom James will conduct a community forum on the incident today on the Manhattan campus.
The professor who was targeted, faculty and students said, has distinguished herself as a scholar in race relations. Neither police nor the college identified the 44-year-old professor.
"She's very passionate about social justice and equality," said Shawn Maxam, 26, of Brooklyn, who is studying music education and sociology education at Teachers College. "I'm not surprised or shocked. There are issues surrounding race and class at Teachers College."
Other students said they were hurt after learning of the incident.
"I'm shocked," said Nichole Henry, 23, who is studying to become a physical education teacher. "For a hate crime to go down at Teachers College, this is such a diverse school.
"I can't believe it. It's really disappointing. It hurts."
Nursing education professor Kathleen O'Connell called the incident "extremely distressing.
"This place does a lot of work on racial and diversity issues," she said.
Speaking of her colleague, O'Connell said, "She's a very productive faculty member, so that's just nuts."
Debbie Sonu, 31, a fourth-year doctoral student in urban education, said she was disappointed about the incident but encouraged by the school's swift response.
"It's a wake-up call," Sonu said.
She made reference to the case of the six black teenagers in Jena, La., who civil rights activists have said were treated unfairly by the local criminal justice system and prosecuted overzealously when fights along racial lines broke out at their school last year.
"Maybe we can't compare the context or geography," Sonu said. "But the bottom line of how we treat each other is comparable."
Staff writer Zachary R. Dowdy contributed to this story.
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