Jim Garrett and Gina Casalegno sent out an email on 8/31/20 to alert students that someone vandalized The Fence and painted over “Black Lives Matter” to say “All Lives Matter.” That person(s) crossed out the word “Black” and decided to replace that original statement with one that supports bigotry to send a message to the CMU community that they believe the Black Lives Matter movement does not matter. 

Nowhere in the email did it say they would investigate and find who was responsible for vandalizing The Fence and performing such an offensive, ignorant, and disgusting act.

According to Carnegie Mellon's Discriminatory Harassment Code of Conduct:

"Carnegie Mellon is firmly committed to intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and expression, and respect for the dignity of each individual. Acts of discriminatory harassment or intimidation by a student directed toward any member of the community are inconsistent with this commitment and will not be tolerated. Consistent with the University's Statement of Assurance, prohibited acts include harassment and intimidation motivated by discriminatory intent based on race, color, national origin, birth sex, gender identity, handicap or disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. 

Any such harassment or intimidation of or by a student should be referred to the dean of students or designee for resolution."

We want the university to hold this student/these students accountable for their actions. There is no room for hate in the CMU community. This is not something you can politely disagree with: this is affirming that Black lives, on CMU’s campus and off, MATTER and that the Movement will not be silenced.