by Anonym ·
Friday, November 25, 2016
by Lucinda Bowen
Harvard police are investigating the defacement of the rock in front of the Bromfield School with what Superintendent Linda Dwight characterized as “threatening symbols and hate speech.” The graffiti, which was discovered by a resident Friday morning, included multiple swastikas, including one covering the Star of David, the words “Trump,” “black sugar,” and the alt-right-associated term “cuck,” an orange cross which Dwight said could be interpreted as burning, as well as profanity and drawings of the male anatomy. The graffiti was spray painted over the word “Coexist,” spelled out with religious symbols, which Bromfield seniors had painted on the rock following the presidential election, Dwight said in a phone interview Friday. Traditionally, the rock has been a place for students to display messages to the student body and wider community, which Dwight described as “always very respectful.”
(Courtesy photo)
“That rock is pretty focal to the town, so whoever put those messages on there wanted people to see it, wanted their hate to be visible. That is very disturbing,” she said.
Dwight notified the school community of the vandalism via an email to faculty, students, parents, and town members on Friday afternoon, just hours after the graffiti had been discovered by resident Robert Curran, who walks by the rock most mornings with his dog. In a phone interview Curran said he was “horrified” to discover the graffiti. He posted a photo on Nextdoor Harvard Friday morning, writing, “Sadly, this has happened in Harvard.” It was through Curran’s photo and Nextdoor post, which as of this writing had more than fifty replies expressing a shared sense of outrage and concern, that the defacement came to Dwight’s attention, and she was the one to report it to police.
Currently, Harvard police are investigating four criminal charges, including felonious property defacement and tagging, as well as misdemeanor civil rights violation and criminal harassment, according to Detective Daniele Fortunato. The Massachusetts attorney general’s office has also been involved with the investigation. Evidence recovered at the scene is being processed, and police request that anyone with information contact the office at 978-456-8276. “We will take anonymous tips, any information you have,” said Fortunato in an interview Friday. Dwight also solicited for tips and information in her email, requesting that people report information via http://www.harvard.ma.us/police-department/webforms/anonymous-tips or by calling 978-456-4140 or 978-456-4152.
The ongoing investigation did not stop the Department of Public Works from taking quick action to cover the graffiti with paint and a tarp on Friday. And on Friday evening, student Maggie Gill and former student Emma Franziem had already created a Facebook page for a “Paint the Rock” event tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 26, from 1 to 3 p.m., for students and community members to gather together and repaint the Bromfield rock. For those who want to help but cannot make the painting event timeframe, there is a GoFundMe event to help raise money for paint and supplies (www.gofundme.com/painttherock).
“I was really upset that someone had ruined our message of peace with hate. I thought the best way to right a wrong was to get together as a community and promote peace,” said Gill in a phone interview.
For her part, Dwight agrees that a community response is essential to this kind of divisive event: “This is not just a school issue, it’s a community issue,” said the superintendent, who is already working with a diversity trainer to design in-school programming for students and teachers around issues of diversity. “I’d love to see other town leaders become a part of this: churches, the town administrator, Board of Selectmen – the conversation has to be bigger than just the schools. More people have to get involved. The diversity committee is going to try to help make that happen…. [because] it’s very disappointing and disheartening that this happened here. You read about it in the newspapers but it’s really, really upsetting right here among our own children.”