Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, a spray-painted message was found on the side-entrance doors of the College of William and Mary’s Sadler Center. The message was related to ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza, specifically criticizing the allotment of College funds.
“Your tuition funds genocide,” the message said. “Free Palestine.”
According to William and Mary Police Department Chief Don Butler, an investigation is still ongoing and further details will be released when available.
“These types of cases can often take some time to resolve,” Butler wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “If any members of our community have information related to this incident, we ask that they contact William & Mary Police at 757-221-4596.”
In an email to The Flat Hat, the College’s director of university news and media Suzanne Clavet said appropriate criminal charges and campus disciplinary action would be pursued if a College community member was found to be involved with the incident.
“William & Mary values freedom of expression and the respectful exchange of differing ideas; however, that exchange should not involve the violation of any laws or campus policies,” Clavet wrote. “William & Mary must be a campus that welcomes difficult conversations, honest debate and civil dialogue in ways that honor our values of belonging and respect. It saddens us that someone broke those values and committed a criminal act. It won’t be tolerated on our campus.”
Clavet also attached a university graphic to her email detailing how the College spends tuition money.
Criticism from the student body regarding the use of College funds increased last semester as campus advocacy groups have commented on the College’s response to violence in Israel and Palestine. Student advocates have urged students, alumni and faculty on their social media to withhold donations to the College until demands such as calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from companies that profit from Israel are addressed and met by the College administration.
These organizations have also asked the administration to denounce language that equates anti-Zionism or pro-Palestinian activism with antisemitism.
When asked about the spray paint incident in an interview with The Flat Hat, an organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine mentioned that no one from their organization was or would ever be encouraged to pursue that course of action during their advocacy efforts. The student emphasized that SJP only strives to take productive and educational action.
“We heard about it and we had nothing to do with it – we have actions that are organized and whatever we tell our students to do, that’s it, we think that there’s a certain way to go about things that is the most productive,” the SJP student said. “I don’t think this is the strongest way to deliver that type of message.”
