Just over two weeks after the murder of Tess Majors, Barnard and Columbia faculty members have received racist robocalls on their landlines.

According to a statement published by the Columbia Office of University Life, several Barnard and Columbia faculty members have received racist voicemails to their landlines. The university and Mayor de Blasio denounce the messages put out in the robocalls. The university will be working closely with the NYPD to block the numbers that these voicemails are coming from.

The university asks if you have received one of these voicemails or receive one in the future to contact Public Safety.

These voicemails seem to be in line with a larger upswell of racism in the days following Majors’ murder, as a Connecticut man was arrested last week after posting racist threats online in connection to the murder.

Bwog has reached out to Barnard regarding these voicemails and will update when we hear back.

Update 12/29 7:50 PM: Bwog received an email sent to all Barnard faculty and staff sent on December 25th. The email confirms that the robocalls were sent by a white supremacist group. The email can be found below:

Dear Barnard Faculty and Staff,

A few hours ago we became aware that robocalls from a white supremacist group left a racist voicemail on landlines across campus. The contents of this message, related to Tess Majors’ recent death, are abhorrent and viciously offensive. We write to let you know that we are actively looking into this matter with the NYPD and are working to block the caller. Hateful and threatening rhetoric will not be tolerated. We encourage you to report any additional issues directly to either of us. We take this attack on our values extremely seriously and will work diligently to combat such messages in the future.

Sincerely,

Amy Zavadil, Interim Executive Director for Public Safety, azavadil@barnard.edu

Roger Mosier, Interim Vice President for Operations, rmosier@barnard.edu