UPDATE: Student Confesses to "Noose" Vandalism at UCD

Update: A student has issued a written confession to the UC Davis Police Department in regard to a yellow ribbon that was tagged with the words "USE ME AS A NOOSE." The ribbon was found by attendees of the Students of Color Conference.

Police determined that it did not meet the criteria of a hate crime. The student said it was intended as an "ironic statement as part of his artistic endeavors," according to the Sacramento Bee. Police did not reveal the student's identity. 

Original Story

Two students at the Students of Color Conference this weekend found a yellow ribbon in the quad with the words, “USE ME AS A NOOSE” written on it.

The students, who came to Davis from UC San Diego to attend the conference, found the ribbon on Sunday, Nov. 13. 

Yellow ribbons had been hung on the quad earlier in the weekend to commemorate Veterans Day. It is unknown at this time if the “noose” message was specifically directed at the Students of Color Conference. Several attempts to reach the UC Davis Police Department have gone unanswered.

The UC San Diego students who found the ribbon were especially hurt by the message in part because of an incident that took place at their school in February of 2010. In that situation, a noose was found hanging in the university’s library.

The UCSD students who found the ribbon went to the Cross Cultural Center but no staff was available, so they called police at 9:55 am and an officer showed up about 15 minutes later to take down the story. A second officer called at 7:45 pm to hear the story again, and said he would relay the message to the chief. 

“A lot of people were very hurt and triggered,” said Amanda Gonzalez, a co-chair of the conference. She said that they wanted to turn it into a learning experience, so speakers discussed it during the closing ceremonies. "They ended with a ~ 1,000-student group hug. It was beautiful.”

"It is particularly disturbing that such an act of intolerance should occur at a time when the campus community is working to create a safe and inviting space for all our students," said Chancellor Linda Katehi, according to News 10. "In fact, this was just the latest in a recent series of distressing incidents of hate and bias on our campus since the start of the fall quarter."

Police have not responded to several calls regarding this incident, possibly in part because they've been busy monitoring the . We'll update when we have more. 

In the San Diego incident, a woman eventually confessed to hanging the noose, but explained in this story that it was an “unfortunate and inadvertent mistake.”

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If you have any information about the ribbon message, please share it here or email me at justin.cox@patch.com. If you'd like to blog in response to this incident, click here.