Professors at Teachers College received “envelopes containing hate mail” on Tuesday, according to an e-mail Spectator obtained from students that was originally sent by TC President Susan Fuhrman and Provost Thomas James that afternoon.
“Earlier today, several faculty members received envelopes containing hate mail,” Fuhrman and James wrote. “We have alerted the Hate Crimes Unit of the New York City Police Department, which is still investigating the October 2007 hate crime incidents.” They urged recipients of the message to cooperate with police investigation.
“The TC community deplores these hateful acts, which violate every Teachers College and societal norm,” they wrote, adding that they encourage anyone who finds information to “immediately contact” the 26th Precinct Detective Squad, Director of Public Safety John DeAngelis, or TC Vice President for Diversity and Community Janice Robinson.
Marcia Horowitz, the spokeswoman hired from PR-firm Rubenstein Associates to speak on TC’s behalf regarding hate crimes, told Spectator that TC would not comment since the investigation is in the hands of the police.
A representative from the New York Police Department’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information confirmed that the Hate Crimes detectives from the NYPD’s 26th Precinct will conduct the investigation, but could not disclose any information about the specific contents of the envelopes. Representatives of Columbia Public Safety declined comment.
The alert comes more than one year after TC was hit by a slew of hate crimes. On Oct. 9, 2007, a noose was found on the office door of counseling and clinical psychology professor Madonna Constantine. Constantine, who is black, rallied against the incident, which she deemed an attack motivated by racism. “I would like the perpetrator to know that I will not be silenced,” Constantine said afterward. In February, TC announced that Constantine had been found guilty of plagiarizing passages from the work of three former students and colleagues.
After Constantine appealed the decision, TC found her guilty once again and raised the penalty from undefined sanctions to termination pending appeal. In October 2008, Constantine filed a lawsuit against the school with the New York Supreme Court. It has been revealed that a state grand jury had subpoenaed the school’s records concerning Constantine in an investigation of the appearance of the noose.
The noose incident was the first of a series of bias crimes on campus, including racist graffiti in a Lewisohn Hall bathroom and a swastika on the door of a Jewish professor’s office in TC’s department of counseling and clinical psychology—the same department where the noose was found. Later in October 2007, two faculty members received “anti-Semitic materials,” according to an e-mail from James.
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