On Thursday, March 2, incidents of intolerant graffiti were reported on the Meredith College campus.

In response, President Maureen Hartford sent an email to the campus, co-signed by the Student Government Association president, Faculty Council chair and Staff Affairs Committee chair. (Click here to read full message.)

The message read in part, “During the past 24 hours, there have been several incidents of hateful language and symbols appearing in campus buildings. These messages have expressed opinions that are diametrically opposite of Meredith’s values and to our commitment to maintaining a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive campus environment…As a community, we hope that we can confront these incidents with thoughtful dialogue.”

Several efforts, led by students, faculty and staff, are already underway. The campus community was asked to wear green on Friday, March 2, as a show of respect, unity and peace. This effort was organized by the Honors Committee. Meredith students also created a Facebook group to show support for tolerance and unity. In less than 24 hours more than 700 members had joined. (As of March 12, the group had more than 900 members.)

The following events are planned in response.

March 14 at 10 a.m. in Jones Chapel: Meredith will hold an interfaith Unity Chapel Service, led by SGA President Megan Hembree and Campus Minister Sam Carothers, joined by Vice President for College Programs Jean Jackson.

The chapel service will feature “a wide variety of campus groups, joining together in one voice to say ‘this was wrong and we’ve got to do better’,” Carothers said.

Representatives from organizations including the Association for Cultural Awareness, the Muslim Student Association, the Unity Council and Spectrum are scheduled to participate.

March 14 at 5:30 p.m. in courtyard behind Johnson Hall: Unity Rally sponsored by the Student Government Association.

According to the SGA, this rally "will be an open mic event where members of the Meredith community may voice their opinions, read poems or play songs that exemplify peace, unity and diversity, or any other way to express feelings concerning unity on our campus."

Meredith President Maureen A. Hartford and SGA President Megan Hembree are scheduled to speak. Other campus community members may sign up beginning at 4:30 p.m. to speak at the event.

A candlelight vigil sponsored by the Unity Council will also be held on March 14, at approximately 8 p.m. in front of Johnson Hall.

March 20 at 7 p.m. in Jones Auditorium: The History & Political Science Department's Civil Rights class will hold a teach-in that will offer students a chance to speak about the graffiti and address the issues it raises in a forum where all views can be heard, and potentially challenged, respectfully.

March 22 at 6 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium:Campus Dialogue on Diversity, led by World Trust Executive Shakti Butler, who will present her documentary “The Way Home,” which shows what happened when eight ethnic councils of women came together to talk honestly about race, gender, class and culture in the United States. Butler will facilitate discussion with the audience after the viewing. Visit www.meredith.edu/campus-theme/shakti-butler.htm for more on this event.