Noose on Columbia Prof's Door Viewed as Hate Crime

Columbia University erupted today after a noose was found hanging from the door of Madonna Constantine, a black professor who often writes about racism. The New York Police Department said it is investigating the incident as a hate crime. Columbia’s president called it “an attack on all of us,” and students vowed to wear black and rally.

The colleague who found the noose yesterday told the New York Times that Constantine—who teaches at the university's Teachers College—was devastated but “getting a lot of support.” Said one student: “You would think, Columbia being such a diverse campus and New York being such a diverse city, it shouldn't happen here." (More race relations stories.)