A vulgar message was carved into the snow around UAlbany's fountain on Tuesday night. The university and other campus and community groups are reacting to it on Wednesday — though it remains unclear if the student responsible faces any sort of action for writing this message in the snow.

"Words are very powerful and words can do amazing things but when words are abused they can be very negative and very destructive. So it's really important, especially on a college campus — where people learn to use their words effectively, positively, and meaningfully, [knowing] there [are] other [ways] for people to share their thoughts and opinions in a much healthier way," said Mendel Rubin, Rabbi and co-director of Shabbos House.

The message written in the snow read "F— Israel." Rubin says students, parents, and alumni are reaching out in light of the incident and he's been in direct contact with the school.

"There's a lot of concern that this not be continued, that this be a one-off event, that this be a rare occasion as it has been on this campus," Rubin said.

He says in 22 years of being part of the campus community, nothing like this has ever happened at UAlbany before.

"The language that was there and the general vibe of it is offensive and hurtful, and it has no place in the campus atmosphere," Rubin said. 

The school released a statement to Spectrum News, which reads in part, "This type of language is in direct opposition to our core value of diversity and inclusion, and it is toxic to the constructive dialogue and the welcoming climate we seek to foster on our campus."

UAlbany President Havidan Rodriguez also echoed that statement in his own release on Wednesday.

"Yesterday, a disdainful and extremely offensive message was written in the snow in the center of our Uptown Campus. While this message may be speech protected by the Constitution, I and many in our community found it deeply offensive, insulting and hurtful," Rodriguez said. "As a community, we must, in no uncertain terms, strongly reject any behavior that goes against our institutional value of inclusive excellence." 

Rubin says in light of this incident, Shabbos House is working with students to try to put a positive spin on things. Students are organizing a positivity walk at the podium on Thursday from 12 to 3 p.m. They're also hanging a large photo of Jerusalem's western wall inside Campus Center. On that photo, they're asking students to place post-it notes with a wish or positive vibe to respond to this message.