Swastika, Racist Messages Reported at Drake University

DES MOINES, Iowa — Administrators say a swastika was carved into an elevator on campus at Drake University in Des Moines and a racist message left outside an African-American student’s dorm room in a cowardly attack.

The Des Moines Register reports that the message was left on a whiteboard on the door of a first-year student over the weekend.

In an email to students Sunday, Drake University President Marty Martin called the content of the message “the most offensive of racial epithets” and the vandalism “cowardly.” He says the markings and message have been removed.

Martin encouraged anyone with information about the vandalism to report it.