President Linda Mills encouraged students to “come together to find a peaceful way forward” in her first universitywide message addressing the desecration of a prayer room in Bobst Library.
“I am stunned to think that someone in our midst can have done something so hateful,” Mills wrote in the Sunday email. “It is egregious and outrageous — and not a reflection of the community we treasure.”
The incident, which is being investigated as a hate crime and act of Islamophobia, included urination on prayer mats and illustrations depicting male genitalia across the room’s walls. The vandalism took place during Eid Fest, an event organized by Muslim student organizations on campus. Mills said the university has “zero tolerance for bigotry of this sort” and that “no one who undertakes such desecration deserves a place at NYU.”
Shortly following the vandalism, emails from a university spokesperson and Campus Safety head Fountain Walker said NYU launched an investigation into the incident, which will be conducted in cooperation with New York City’s Hate Crimes Task Force. Mills said that the perpetrator, once identified, will be subject to the university’s “most severe sanctions” in addition to legal consequences.
Mills also said that members of the NYU leadership met with Muslim students on Friday, who felt “angry, heart-stricken, sickened and scared” following the incident. She added that NYU will make efforts to improve the “security and sanctity” of on-campus prayer rooms. On Thursday, several student groups demanded that the university install additional security cameras and send more immediate communications regarding hate crimes and instances of Islamophobia.
The Sunday email comes after on-campus student groups criticized Mills for not immediately condemning the incident. In an Instagram post, Students for Justice in Palestine had referenced her crackdown on last year’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment shortly after Maghrib prayer and her communication with a “self-proclaimed Islamaphobe,” an NYU parent who runs a popular Facebook page.
On Saturday, Muslim student leaders at NYU said in a post online that students met with Dean of Students Rafael Rodriguez, Walker and representatives from the Mills’ office. They also cited their petition condemning acts of Islamophobia on campus, which they said garnered more than 1,000 student signatures in under 24 hours.
“We have more follow-up meetings planned soon to continue these discussions,” the statement read. “We’re pushing for immediate changes to protect our spaces and are not accepting empty promises or generic emails — we’re demanding specific actions that will make a real difference for our community.”
The group Faculty and Staff Against Antisemitism at NYU publicly condemned the act as a hate crime in a statement on Friday. The group, which has previously criticized SJP and other Muslim student groups, said that its members “know what it means to feel unsafe, targeted and unwelcome because of faith and identity,” and urged NYU to “swiftly identify and discipline those responsible.”
NYU’s Student Government Assembly also condemned the vandalization, stating that the hate crime was “a reminder of the discrimination, hate and hostility that Muslims face daily outside of that room.” The statement also listed resources such as the NYU Wellness Exchange and Bias Response Line to create a safe environment for students.
Mills said NYU is “cooperating fully” with the investigation, which has been ongoing since Thursday afternoon. The letters “AEPI,” which many claimed to be in reference to the off-campus Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi which was suspended from NYU for hazing in 2015, were chalked onto the wall. In a statement to WSN, the group condemned the vandalism and said it was “not aware” that any of its members were involved.
In a statement, the Islamic Center at NYU referenced students’ safety concerns in the wake of “increasing governmental policies that marginalize and criminalize Muslim communities.” Over the past month, the Trump administration has detained at least nine students and faculty across the country for their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests, and revoked hundreds of student visas.
“Every prayer we offer once our space reopens is an act of reclaiming what belongs to us,” Muslim student leaders said in their joint statement. “Every time we visibly practice our faith on this campus, we assert our right to be here.”
Update, April 7: This article has been updated with a statement from AEPI.
Contact Liyana Illyas at [email protected].
