Over the past week, Manchester Community College has had three racially motivated incidents happen inside its walls. The first was the defamation of posters displayed on the campus.
"There were racial slurs. It was specifically targeting an event by our Black Student Union," said Duncan Harris, Acting Dean of Student Affairs.
Similar remarks made their way onto a copy of the school’s student newspaper. The words “MCC KKK” were written above a picture. Another incident was a verbal exchange between two students where one of them made a racially charged threat.
"In that case, we had a statement that was made, a student felt threatened," said Harris.
The school has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to any form of harassment. The campus police are looking into the incidents, and administrators are already moving forward. MCC President Dr. Gena Glickman sent out an email to all students and staff to let them know what happened. Now student groups are working on a community forum so they can have conversations about how to address these issues.
"This is our community. All of us are here every day and when one or two or ten of our community are hurt, we’re all hurt," said Debbie Colucci, Affirmative Action and Staff Development Coordinator for the college.
Students say these incidents are rare at MCC, and it doesn’t change their opinion of the school or the people who go here. They say the college is diverse and works to make everyone feel a part of the MCC family.
"I do truly believe that everyone is welcomed. I’m sure you’ll have your general few in the general public that don’t accept certain things, and that’s all due to opinion. But pretty much the student body is very welcoming to every student that comes through these doors," said MCC student Chelsea Morante.
Campus police are trying to find out who is responsible for the three incidents. They don't know if it was one person or many.
