IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa’s new president is condemning a racist remark that was carved into a bathroom door inside a campus building. Bruce Harreld said Monday evening the school was trying to determine who left the message in Spence Laboratories, the building that houses the university’s department of psychological and brain sciences.
Harreld says the act “is offensive to our community and will not be tolerated,” adding that the door was immediately sanded down to remove the comment. Interim UI public safety director David Visin says the remark was “a racial slur” that didn’t include any additional threatening language. He says he’s not releasing specifics in order to protect the integrity of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Visin says he is asking the public for help solving the crime.