Stanford University said it found a noose hanging from a tree outside of a residence hall and is investigating the incident as a hate crime.
In an email to students and staff, university officials said campus safety authorities immediately “removed the noose and retained it as evidence,” after receiving a report Sunday evening that a noose was seen outside an undergraduate dormitory.
“We cannot state strongly enough that a noose is a reprehensible symbol of anti-Black racism and violence that will not be tolerated on our campus,” said the email from Vice Provosts Susie Brubaker-Cole and Patrick Dunkley. “It is the moral responsibility of those with any knowledge of this incident to come forward” so appropriate action can be taken.
A Stanford spokesman did not answer questions seeking more details on the incident, including whether campus video surveillance cameras captured the noose being placed in the tree.
It’s the third such incident in the last three years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. In 2019, a noose was found hanging on a tree near a residence for summer students. In 2021, two loose ropes that resembled nooses were found hanging in a tree near a walking trail.