By Amit Shilton
News Editor
A series of hate-crime vandalism sprung up on the Ryerson campus over the past two weeks.
Four instances of hate-related graffiti were found by Ryerson security across the school. Two of the instances were anti-Semitic while the third was labelled as anti-Iranian. Another was termed homophobic.
Last Monday, security found and removed an anti-Semitic drawing on the directory of the sixth floor of the building on Victoria Street.
Less than a week later on March 14, another anti-Semitic symbol was found drawn into the grime of a dirty window of the Research/Graduate Studies building on 111 Gerrard St. That drawing was also removed by security.
The nature of the graffiti was not released by Ryerson security to avoid propagating similar hate crimes at school.
Imre Juurlink, crime analysis and communication specialist for Ryerson security, said she doesn’t believe the graffiti is in connection with the Anti-Israeli Apartheid Week, held March 1-8.
“Surprisingly, we haven’t had any instances related to it,” she said, adding that most hate crimes found on campus were anti-Semitic.
A handwritten message with anti-Iranian sentiments was found by security in the men’s washroom on the eighth floor of the school’s library.
And on March 5, homophobic graffiti was found on the third floor of the podium building. The incident was reported to security and campus planning, said Juurlink.
This is the first time this year hate crimes have been reported with such frequency at Ryerson. But Juurlink said that the number of hate-related crimes has been on average compared to previous years.
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