Colorado State University students alerted the university to an act of vandalism outside of CSU’s Visual Arts Building Sept. 26, where a Black Lives Matter mural had been splattered with paint. CSU Police Department logged theft, criminal mischief and desecration of a venerated object at 10:44 p.m. that night. The mural was first painted in 2020 as part of an educational initiative to integrate art, education and civic engagement on campus, led by the department of art and art history, according to a SOURCE article.
The mural was seen as a part of a nationwide street art movement that emerged during summer 2020. The Black Lives Matter movement, at large, dates back to 2013 with the social media hashtag created following the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his shooter, George Zimmerman.
Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi began the movement, and their website details their mission as “working inside and outside of the system to heal the past, reimagine the present and invest in the future of Black lives through policy change, investment in our communities and a commitment to arts and culture.”
The mural at CSU, painted yellow in VTC Martin — a font family designed by Black typographer Tré Seals — was splattered with black and white paint, which was cleaned off within a few days. Security cameras were also positioned as part of the installation, according to CSU SOURCE.
CSU student Ashenafi Paulos heard about the vandalism from a friend shortly after it happened and went to see it in person.
“I felt, like, a sense of dread because I was like, ‘Oh shit, it’s happening,’” Paulos said. “I don’t think anything’s going to be done. … If anything, this is an opportunity (for administration) to be like, ‘We need to make sure that we’re … standing up for our students of color and for our marginalized students, and … actually have people face repercussions for hate speech.”
Paulos further emphasized feelings of frustration and fear at the lack of accountability taken by the university overall.
“It’s really difficult going to a school where all these things happen,” Paulos said. “We never see anyone take accountability for things that harm us.”
Students and faculty expressed frustration about the lack of acknowledgement from university leadership on the incident at a community discussion event held Oct. 30. In attendance was College of Liberal Arts Dean Kjerstin Thorson and art students and faculty, among others. CSU Police Department Police Chief Stacey Clement said the suspect has not been identified but is believed to have been affiliated with the art department as someone who appeared to have access to the paint, and there is a plan to release the security video.
“It was heartbreaking to see this act of vandalism. I want to express my appreciation to the volunteers who moved quickly to clean up the mural and to the law enforcement team for their rapid response. Their supportive actions are the best representation of our community and our commitment to creating a safe, respectful and welcoming environment for all.” -Kjerstin Thorson, CSU College of Liberal Arts dean
“(Releasing the video) has always been a plan,” Clement said. “The reason we started with a small group is there’s just other problems that come up … from (an) investigative side, to blast something out large and far and wide. And so if we can start with … someone associated with this building, we could start there, make an identification that would be a better investigative tool.”
Clement discussed with students and faculty about what can and cannot be communicated from the university as an official statement.
“Not necessarily this particular example, but these are pieces of conversation that are had pretty consistently about what’s (being) communicated, how much is communicated (and) official capacity from the president’s office,” Clement said. “Something from the president’s office that acknowledges that this happened and that this is not good, and so those are … constant conversations about what this communication (should) look like.”
A student in attendance also mentioned that the case was labeled “Closed: In Suspense” online, meaning, “Case has no solvability currently. No known suspects or witnesses. Closed pending further information or leads,” according to the CSUPD log. But more discussion followed, and it was not addressed again during the meeting.
Thorson spoke about actionable steps moving forward until the investigation is resolved, including changing light bulbs to make the outside of the art building more visible and easier to navigate.
“There is action being taken in terms of how the crime is being investigated,” Thorson said. “I want to separate that from us being too slow to change light bulbs — that we can fix. The broader challenge is for us to fight for the rest of our lives.”
Thorson commented about the incident in a statement given to The Collegian by Tiana Kennedy, the associate vice president of communications for CSU.
“It was heartbreaking to see this act of vandalism,” Thorson said. “I want to express my appreciation to the volunteers who moved quickly to clean up the mural and to the law enforcement team for their rapid response. Their supportive actions are the best representation of our community and our commitment to creating a safe, respectful and welcoming environment for all.”
At the time of publication, the CSUPD log lists all three as “Closed: In Suspense,” meaning no further action is being taken right now. But according to CSUPD, the investigation is open. The Collegian submitted a request for records, but it was denied due to the investigation being confirmed active via phone call.
Nik Olsen, public information officer for CSU, said details of the investigation, including security footage, will not be released, and that “the case has been open since the call came in.”
However, this appears to contradict Clement’s statement about the security footage being released during the Oct. 30 meeting, when she said “(Releasing the video) has always been a plan.” It further appears to contradict the daily log that lists the incidents as “Closed: In Suspense.” The Collegian reached out to CSUPD Nov. 13, but an answer has not been provided as to whether the case was changed to “Active/Open Investigation” from “Closed: In Suspense.”
This is an ongoing story and updates will be made when further information is made available.
Those who have any further information or would like to share their experience are encouraged to reach out to The Collegian via email or social media.
Reach Aubree Miller at news@collegian.com or on social media @aubreem07.
