Hillhouse students discovered a swastika and hateful messages targeting the Jewish and Black communities in a second-floor bathroom Thursday — leading the principal to reach out to the high school community for help making sure that the school is “a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for every student.”
Principal Antoine Billy updated staff and families on Thursday about that “deeply troubling incident,” which is currently being investigated by the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) district.
In an email sent to Hillhouse staff and families on Thursday at around 4:30 p.m., Billy said that “messages of hate were discovered in a 2nd floor bathroom, including a swastika accompanied by hateful language directed toward the Jewish community, as well as another message targeting the Black community.”
In his same email to the school community, Billy commended the students who found and reported the hate messages. “Their courage and willingness to speak up reflect the valued of respect and responsibly that we work everyday to instill in our students,” he wrote.
NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon noted that Billy addressed all Hillhouse students about the incident Friday morning. He said that after the vandalism was discovered, the bathroom was closed immediately and an investigation begun to identify who might be responsible.
Billy’s Thursday email told the school community that in addition to notifying district leaders, the school’s security team inspected all of Hillhouse’s bathrooms in the building to ensure there were no more messages. Custodial staff have been assigned to remove all of the graffiti immediately from the now-closed bathroom.
Billy concluded Thursday’s email by asking families to partner with the school in its efforts of “reinforcing that hate has no place at Hillhouse or anywhere in our community.”
In a follow-up comment sent to the Independent Friday, Billy said, “Our students carry challenges with them each day: gun violence, domestic violence, poverty, food insecurity, and countless other hardships. Hate is not something a child is born with. It is taught. And every one of us has a responsibility to extinguish it whenever and wherever it appears.”