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Members of the SUNY Purchase University Police are investigating the posters and have identified a suspect believed to be responsible for spreading the posters at the Anderson Hill Road campus in Harrison.
"I regret to inform the community that yesterday, Nazi-themed posters were found in various spots around campus,” Officer-in-Charge Dennis Craig said. “That this hateful act took place on the last night of Hanukkah when our Jewish community members were celebrating the survival of their religion, makes it even more reprehensible.
“Please know that these posters, and any message of anti-Semitism and intolerance, go against our core values of diversity, acceptance, and understanding. At Purchase, we are committed to ensuring that all members of the community are accepted and welcome, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, background, or identity.”
The posters reportedly had images of Adolf Hitler and a swastika.
“Messages of hate, while becoming more and more prevalent in our country, have no place on our campus and will be treated with the utmost severity,” the university wrote in a statement. “As we believe the best way to combat hate is with education and dialogue, we will be collaborating with Hillels of Westchester and the Office of Diversity to put together a dialogue on diversity in the coming weeks, into the start of next semester. All members of the campus community will be welcome to attend.”
In a statement released after the revelation of the posters, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that “while they spread fear, we spread love.”
“I am disgusted by the discovery of neo-Nazi material at SUNY Purchase today. In New York, we will not tolerate the toxic social dynamic that is spreading like a cancer across the country and fueling hateful material like the neo-Nazi fliers that were found on the campus,” he said.
“I am directing the State Police Hate Crimes Unit to assist in the investigation into these fliers. Those behind this noxious act should know that these fliers, far from inciting fear, will only harden our resolve to combat hate in all its forms. We will not cower in the face of hate. While they spread fear, we will spread love.”
“I was deeply troubled to learn about the discovery of neo-Nazi posters at SUNY Purchase, especially as Jews across the world came together for the Festival of Lights, a celebration of the triumph of the Jewish people over persecution," Congresswoman Nita Lowey said in a statement. “It is with that same resolve and courage in which the Jews prevailed that we today must confront the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism at home and abroad. Only by working together will we root out hatred and bigotry in all its forms.”
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