ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Latino students were targeted by racist and hateful words that were painted on a rock near the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.
Hours after a Latino group of incoming freshmen at U of M painted an iconic rock near campus last week, it was painted over with racist comments directed at the Latino community.
The rock, located at Washtenaw Avenue and Hills Street, was painted by 35 freshmen Thursday under the auspices of Latinos to Maximize Achievement, a U of M group that recruits and supports Latino students at the university.
The freshmen were on campus for workshops before classes began Tuesday.
A campus Latino organization released a statement, which said, in part:
"The incident at the "Rock" while damaging for our community , especially the incoming Latinx students should not be viewed as unexpected or a single act of hate."
Latinos represent about 5 percent of the student population.
The university's chief diversity officer issued the following statement:
"These actions do not represent our university and have no place in our community. While the incident is despicable and disappointing, it will not impact my, or my office’s, efforts in continuing to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive university community."
You can watch Steve Garagiola's full story in the video posted above.