GENESEO, N.Y. -- Students at SUNY Geneseo are reacting after someone drew a swastika on a residence hall wall on campus last week.
"Geneseo is supposed to be a pretty accepting and tolerant campus, but there's a lot of hurt and a lot of brokenness in the world," said SUNY Geneseo junior Scott Cassidy.
Next to the drawing inside Nassau Hall, the word “Trump” was written in black marker, a possible reaction to last week's presidential election.
"It's not stuff that hasn't existed,” said Danni Raffloer, a freshman. “People obviously feel this way, but the election and Trump being who he is has allowed people to really express that."
Campus police and New York State Police are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
"It's very early in our investigation. Everyone we've interacted with has been extremely cooperative," said Thomas Kilcullen, SUNY Geneseo campus police chief. "This type of crime is sensitive and it impacts the entire community. So we have to treat it as though it was serious."
Students learned of the swastika incident through campus email. Many were caught off-guard.
"Obviously people are concerned and scared, and they have every right to be,” said Raffloer. “The fact that we're talking about it makes it more bearable."
At this point, campus police are not releasing any photographs of the swastika. And they will not say whether the incident was captured on video surveillance.
Those responsible for drawing the swastika could face criminal charges, as well as discipline by the college.