Update regarding threatening emails and social posts
Dear members of the Colgate community:
We are outraged, as are many members of our community, about the racist and threatening comments — posted anonymously on social media sites and sent from apparently fictitious email accounts — that were directed toward the Colgate students who took part in the protests on campus last week. In response, we immediately reported these threats to Colgate’s Office of Campus Safety and the Information Technology Services (ITS) department, and began an investigation.
Today, at our request, state law enforcement officials came to campus to continue gathering facts from administrators, staff, and students. These officials, working with the appropriate authorities, will determine what legal action may be taken. We will pursue the legal routes available to us to the fullest extent, and additionally, we will also hold students accountable to our own policies and procedures.
We will continue to pursue anonymous senders of threatening messages. If anyone has a copy of a threatening email or post, or if you have information as to the author of such an email or post, we urge you to come forward and share that information. Similarly, if you see any future threatening messages, please take an immediate screenshot and email it to Peter Setlak, network security analyst in ITS (psetlak@colgate.edu), noting the date and exact time of the post.
Colgate must be a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all. Anonymous and hateful posts have no place on a campus dedicated to liberal education, and we will not tolerate them. These hurtful actions have caused tremendous pain to several people, and as a result, have had a significant impact on the entire campus community. We commit to moving forward to build a more trusting and respectful campus climate together.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Herbst, President
Douglas Hicks, Provost and Dean of the Faculty
Suzy Nelson, Dean of the College