Three cryptic messages spray-painted on West Campus capped a weekend marked by an unusually high incidence of vandalism.
One day after a swastika was found on the exterior of Baldwin Auditorium, graffiti was reported at the intersection of Chapel Drive and Duke University Road, the sidewalk at the entrance to Wilson Recreation Center and the West Union Building Sunday, according to a Duke University Police Department blotter.
Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said she is perplexed by the volume of graffiti on campus recently.
"There seems to be more graffiti this weekend," she said. "I'd have to say it's a mystery.... I have not speculated about the cause."
At 10:42 a.m. Sunday, the phrase "Reclaim your Eggs" was found spray-painted in green paint on a wall at the intersection of Chapel Drive and Duke University Road. Ten minutes later, the message "Run amok," also written with green paint in apparently the same handwriting, was reported outside Wilson. At 3:41 p.m., the phrase "Run amok" and a sketch of a bearded man wearing a hat and uttering the words, "I am so tired of this," were found scrawled in the Faculty Lounge.
Damages to Wilson and the wall on Chapel Drive and Duke University Road have been estimated at $100 each, according to reports released by DUPD. Police reports for the vandalism in the Faculty Lounge and Baldwin Auditorium were not available.
Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said he is not concerned about the frequency with which buildings on campus were defaced this weekend.
"I'm still presuming that these are just more childish acts.... In any given week, there's something scrawled somewhere," he said. "I don't want to diminish it, but I don't want to create the impression that we have a graffiti wave going on. If we had 50 occurrences of this, I'd think that there was a game plan-I'm hoping I didn't just jinx us by saying that."
DUPD suspects that the three crimes committed Sunday may be related, but no suspects have been identified and no witnesses have come forward, Maj. Gloria Graham wrote in an e-mail. She did not report any progress in the investigation into the swastika found on Baldwin Saturday.
President Richard Brodhead condemned the Baldwin vandalism in an e-mail sent to members of Duke's Jewish community Monday.
"The painting of a swastika on Baldwin Auditorium is a repugnant act that deserves our strong condemnation," he wrote in the e-mail. "It represents an insult to our community, and to those of Jewish heritage above all. The swastika is not merely the repulsive symbol of a genocidal period in recent history. It is a universal symbol of prejudice, hatred and the violence they can unleash. Those forces have no place on this campus or in society at large. It must be all of our work to replace them with inclusiveness, tolerance and mutual respect."
Director for Jewish Life Rebecca Simons wrote in the message that she and other Jewish Life staff members will be available to discuss issues raised by the graffiti with students this week.
The vandalism found Sunday took Wilson staff by surprise because the facilities are typically defaced only when students take up residence in Kryzewskiville, Wilson Employee Mark Givens said. Although the graffiti was reported to DUPD close to 11 a.m., Givens said the crime was probably committed between midnight and 9 a.m., while the gymnasium was closed.
Wasiolek suggested that students who visited Duke for a track meet this weekend could be responsible for the cryptic messages. But Givens speculated that the vandalism was students' way of expressing their dissatisfaction with the Duke basketball program.
"I found [the phrase 'Run Amok'] unusual-I didn't know whether it had anything to do with [the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill] being in the Finals [of the NCAA Tournament]," he said. "It was painted in Michigan State green. There could be a lot of frustrated people out there."
DUPD does not have any theories on the vandals' motives at this time, Graham said.
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