By Cody Clark
A Western student has been arrested in connection with recent racist and bigoted vandalism on campus, according to a WWU Campus Advisory sent out on Nov. 26.
According to the advisory, a 20-year-old student from Gold Bar was arrested on Sunday night by University Police and booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of residential burglary and malicious mischief. A resident of Birnam Wood, the suspect has been trespassed from all university housing and dining halls, and is currently being held in Whatcom County Jail, the advisory said.
On Sunday, Nov. 19, nine name tags in Nash Hall were defaced with racist and homophobic language, as well as a threat of sexual violence, according to the advisory. The following day, a racial epithet was written on the “Wright’s Triangle” art installation near the Ross Engineering Building and on a poster outside Arntzen Hall, the advisory reads. The messages are believed to be part of one continuous incident, according to the advisory.
The name tags have been replaced, the Nash stairwell cleaned, and the racial epithet was removed from the Wright’s Triangle installation according to the advisory.
University Police are continuing to investigate the incidents, according the the advisory. The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Nov. 26 at the Whatcom County Courthouse.
