Cameras to be installed; NAACP leaders say policy shifts needed

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Virginia Tech officials plan to install a security camera near the campus NAACP office and are training staff members on how to recognize hate crimes in response to a recent racially charged act of vandalism. But the student leader of the university’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said significant policy shifts are needed to increase diversity and improve the school’s racial climate. Virginia Tech police have made no arrests and have no new leads in the Sept. 26 incident in which someone wrote “Hang the n——” and “Go back 2 Africa” on the NAACP office door. A campus employee followed standard university procedure for graffiti and removed the writing before calling police, thus hampering the investigation. Campus police and the FBI are investigating, Virginia Tech Police Chief Debra Duncan said. Meanwhile, the university plans to install surveillance equipment in the hallway leading to the NAACP as well as to offices for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance and several groups for ethnic minorities. Ed Spencer, associate vice president for student affairs, said university staff have been instructed to contact police before cleaning any graffiti. Staff members will also undergo additional training to help them differentiate between simple vandalism and a potential hate crime. Shawn Braxton, president of the campus NAACP chapter, said he agreed with all of those steps. But he said the school needs long-term policy shifts to combat lingering racism and insensitivity. “Virginia Tech has had problems with things like this in the past, and this is what they normally do,” he said. “They’ll issue a statement saying this is wrong … and try to accommodate people up to a certain point. But then it’s business as usual.”