Portraits of Black Harvard Professors Vandalized Overnight

Harvard University officials and students are standing together in unity after an unidentified individual vandalized portraits of Black professors overnight.

Photos uploaded online by various students show strips of Black tape placed over the faces of tenured Black professors’ portraits, which hang in the entrance of the university’s law school. Black Law Students Association president Leland Shelton told ThinkProgress that he suspected that the vandalism was a hostile act.

“[This] wasn’t done by an ally,” Shelton said. “It wasn’t in support of Black students and Black law professors.”

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According to Shelton, the incident occurred shortly after the university’s Black students began conversations with Harvard administrators, demanding that the school alter its logo, which features the family crest of a prominent slaveowner.

The vandalism is the latest in a string of racist incidents on college campuses since protests demanding racial justice began earlier this month at the University of Missouri. Since then, various threats have been made toward Black students at a handful of universities, including Howard University and Kean University.