Dear Stanford community,

We are writing tonight with deeply troubling news. At 7:45 p.m. Sunday, Student Affairs received a report of a noose hanging in a tree outside Branner Hall, an undergraduate residence. The Stanford University Department of Public Safety was alerted immediately, responded immediately, and has since removed the noose and retained it as evidence. An investigation is underway.

The matter is being investigated as a hate crime. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact DPS at (650) 723-9633 or the department’s 24/7 communications center at (650) 329-2413.

We cannot state strongly enough that a noose is a reprehensible symbol of anti-Black racism and violence that will not be tolerated on our campus. As a community, we must stand united against such conduct and those who perpetrate it. When faced with despicable acts like this, each of us must decide whether we will have the courage to help to do all that we can to prevent actions like this from occurring at Stanford, and to support those who are the targets of such actions. We also believe it is the moral responsibility of those with any knowledge of this incident to come forward and share all relevant information with DPS so that appropriate action can be taken.

We know this horrific discovery will shake our community and we have begun to develop an outreach plan to provide assistance to all who are in need, bearing in mind that this is not the first time this has occurred at Stanford in recent years. Student mental health services are summarized at this web resource and more support information specific to this incident will be available soon.

Also underway is the Protected Identity Harm process, a protocol we follow to provide support to students, faculty and staff harmed by an incident like this one. Two PIH reports have been filed and information will be posted on the Community PIH Incidents Dashboard website, where we will provide updates as they become available.

We would like to express our gratitude to those who reported the noose and contacted DPS, and are working this evening to support directly impacted students, faculty and staff. We are sharing this message with the full university community so that everyone is informed and we can move forward as one committed to ending anti-Black racism.

Sincerely,

Susie Brubaker-Cole
Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Patrick Dunkley
Vice Provost for Institutional Equity, Access and Community