Members of the Black Student Union at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb say they feel unsafe on campus following the discovery of a racial slur and a reference to the Virginia Tech shootings written on the bathroom wall inside a residence hall, reports the Chicago Tribune.
The university cancelled classes Monday as a security precaution, but reopened the following day. The school's Web site said "university police are satisfied that the anonymous message no longer represents an imminent threat to students, faculty or staff."
Although the school has forged forward with a business-as-usual approach, many of NIU's black students – which compose nearly 13 percent of the university's 18,816 undergraduates – remain uneasy about the incident. School officials estimate that some 200 students have left campus, many heading home.
One of the text-message-style rants scribbled on the wall read: "Tell those n*****s to go home." Another read: "The VA tech shooters messed up w/ having only one shooter...."
Sam Kresen, 18, a freshman from Mt. Prospect, said of the messages: "Maybe it's someone who wanted to get out of finals, but after the Virginia Tech shootings, you can never be too sure. I talked to my parents. They were very nervous. They wanted me to come home right away, but I said, 'I'll be fine.'"
Police have yet to announce a suspect in the case. More than 100 African-American students who said they feared for their safety held a news conference Monday to express frustration with University President John G. Peters for denying them a meeting the day before, although he was at the group's Monday morning appearance before the media.
"This threat did not come out of the blue," said Mitchell Gaddis, president of the university's NAACP chapter. "It's unsafe for us to walk down Greek Row ... and we're tired of it."
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