Two first-year students, who wish to remain anonymous, found a paper towel with human feces in front of their dorm room door in Humbert Hall around 4 p.m. Saturday.
The campus was notified of the incident in an email sent around 8 p.m Saturday by Public Safety. The email states, “a witness saw a white male wearing a white polo shirt run from the area of 3rd floor Humbert while two other white males waited on him before running down the stairs.”
Public Safety stated in the email that they responded to the incident immediately, and talked to both victims and students on Humbert's third floor. An investigation is currently in progress and the incident is being forwarded to the Bias Incident Response Team.
After midnight on Sunday morning, an email update was sent to the DePauw community by Public Safety, signed by Director of Public Safety, Angela Nally, and Dean of Campus Life, Dorian Shager. The email stated "We have identified the students involved in the incident that occurred this afternoon in Humbert Hall. A student has taken responsibility."
The email concluded by stating the case will be forwarded to Community Standards.
President Mark McCoy sent an email to the campus community in which he states, “This was a repugnant act that violates everything for which DePauw stands,” In the email, President McCoy stated he had met personally with both students directly affected by the incident.
This is the second year in a row where a bias incident has occurred within the first week of the academic year. In fall of 2016, a racial slur was written on a student’s whiteboard on their dorm room door, and the name tags on the doors of students of color living on Humbert 2 were removed. No suspects have been identified by Public Safety regarding this incident.
The Cultural Resource Center, located at 509 Locust Street opened at 8:30 pm on Saturday for resources and support. Members of the Bias Incident Response Team and DePauw Student Government were some of the groups present for students.
Public Safety wants any student who has information to contact them at 765-658-5555.
This article was updated at 10:18 am, 08/27/2017.