Daemen President Gary A. Olson released the following letter to the Daemen community on Nov. 22, 2016 in response to a recent incident on campus.

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to follow-up on the letter sent out by Vice President Greg Nayor earlier this morning. The College, under Dr. Nayor’s leadership, has been investigating and addressing this situation throughout the day. What we know is that yesterday evening, Monday, November 21, a group of six Daemen College students were studying in Canavan Hall when one or more decided to take another student’s Greek goddess costume and put it on. At some point, the one student trying on this costume was manufactured a white hood of sorts, creating an outfit that resembled that of a KKK member. That student then decided to walk down the hall and knock on another student’s door.

I find it unacceptable that at this institution, and in this day and age, people would knowingly wear an outfit that symbolizes hatred and violence and to assume that this is an acceptable “joke.” To be clear, it is not a joke, and it is against the policies outlined in the Daemen College Student Code of Conduct.

As of now, the student wearing the costume and the student who helped dress him have been placed on interim suspension from the college. The Student Affairs team is fully investigating this incident and will determine ultimate sanctions in accordance with the Student Handbook. I applaud their swift action. While we cannot always control the actions of our students, we can control how we respond. This is the type of swift and immediate response I expect when an incident like this occurs.

In addition, our Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs has reached out to members of the campus community and is available for support, as are other support services on this campus.

We must continue to educate our community that this institution is not a place that will tolerate hatred, violence, or the threat thereof. We must also continue to have the courage to stand up to our peers when we see or hear something that is not right, offensive, and/or inappropriate.

Cordially,

Gary A. Olson
President