Letter to At Guelph

I am deeply saddened to report to our community that over the weekend an incident of hate graffiti was found in one of our student residences. Unfortunately, this is an occurrence that happens every year, especially at the beginning of the semester. Usually there are a small number of incidences like these, but ANY expression of hatred is unacceptable.

The University of Guelph takes all acts of hate very seriously and refers all incidents to the City of Guelph Police, posts them on the Campus Community Police website and in buildings, and summarizes the overall activity in its annual report. This information can be found on the Campus Community Police website.

Campus Community Police investigate all incidents aggressively and actively encourage individuals to come forward with information.

Throughout the year we engage in a number of educational campaigns that focus on mutual respect, such as the Stop Hate Campaign last year. In addition, if the graffiti is found in a residence, the community will respond quickly by holding residence meetings to discuss the impact of such hateful messages.

The University of Guelph is a community committed to civility and mutual respect and, as such, will not tolerate such hurtful actions.
We ask anyone with information about this incident to please come forward and call Campus Community Police at Ext. 52245 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

This is a community that respects the rights of all its members. I encourage you to join me in working to ensure that the University core beliefs and ideals prevail over closed minded acts of intolerance.

Alastair Summerlee, President and Vice-Chancellor