Editor’s Note: This is a developing story.
The following article was previously published on The Flat Hat’s website on Oct. 27. However, due to an unforeseen technological glitch, it was removed from the website for a period of time and was re-uploaded today, Nov. 6.
Thursday, Oct. 26, at 8:29 p.m. the College of William and Mary’s Interim Police Chief and AVP for Public Safety Don Butler released a statement to students reporting that an unspecified object had been thrown into a window of a building on campus. The object was accompanied by a written message, unreleased to the public.
“While there were no personal injuries, property damage did occur,” WMPD wrote in the statement. “This was a criminal act and will be prosecuted as such.”
The College’s Director of News and Media Suzanne Clavet wrote in an email to The Flat Hat that the property damage occurred to the President’s House, the oldest residence for a university president in the United States. Currently, the house is under renovation as part of the Historic Campus renovation project. The broken window is located at the front, bottom left corner of the house, facing the Brafferton Building. An image of the broken glass can be found below. The photo was taken at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 27.
“At the advice of law enforcement, we are not releasing further details while this is an ongoing investigation,” Clavet wrote. “As President Rowe said in her recent message, the safety of this community, and the values of respect and belonging, anchor it. They are our highest priority. It saddens all of us that someone broke those values and committed a criminal act. It won’t be tolerated on our campus.”
Butler wrote in an email to The Flat Hat that limited, additional information would be released soon.