Racist graffiti unsettles campus community

Police investigating hate crime
by Leslie Layton | Posted April 11, 2019

Racist, homophobic and sexist graffiti was used to deface faculty bulletin boards, photographs and office doors in Butte Hall during the April 6-7 weekend, according to police and faculty.

The Chico State University Police Department (UPD) released a brief statement that says it’s investigating the graffiti incident as a hate crime and “seeking to identify suspects.” UPD estimated the damage and clean-up cost at $400.

Police were contacted Sunday morning and the graffiti that had defaced the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice was promptly removed.

Two forums are now being organized at Chico State around issues of racism and student safety, and Tim Sistrunk, president of the Chico chapter of the California Faculty Association, says the union is assuming a role and wants to collaborate with police on behalf of teaching staff. read more

To people of color, Chico seems less friendly, more hostile

Chico State promises "Safety Summit"
by Leslie Layton and Denise Minor | Posted April 2, 2019

photo courtesy of Vickie Nailing

When Vickie Nailing first came to Chico to pursue a master’s degree in 2015, she was taken aback by how friendly people were. She loved the community’s “hippy vibe” that reminded her of the 1970s.

“When I would pass strangers they would look me in the eyes and smile,” said Nailing, a graduate student in the Teaching International Languages program. “I’m from L.A. I wasn’t used to that.”

Nailing left Chico one year later to train English teachers in Ukraine on a Peace Corps program. When she returned in January, she sensed that something in the city had changed. Nailing, an African-American re-entry student, says she sometimes found herself facing upfront hostility and defensiveness. read more