April 9, 1995
Professor Itzkoff’s office, home vandalized
Professor Seymour Itzkoff’s Wright Hall office was vandalized sometime between 10 p.m. Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday. The incident came after the fall publication of Itzkoff’s controversial book, The Decline of Intelligence in America: A Strategy for National Renewal, that linked intelligence and genetics. Both the hallway and the inside of Itzkoff’s office were spray-painted, with “Racist tenured” and “Racist scholar” reportedly painted inside his office. Itzkoff’s books were damaged as well. Itzkoff was informed of the vandalism by college officials early Monday morning. When he left to go to his office, he discovered that the outside of his house had also been spray-painted, reading “Beware racist.” Once the police had arrived to his Ashfield home and Itzkoff lowered the garage door, another message was discovered there reading “Your words will follow you.” The fluorescent color used to spray-paint the office was the same as the color used to paint Itzkoff’s home.
The full Sophian article on the vandalism can be found here (1, 2).
Sophian letters to the editor on the vandalism can be found here.
A Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton) article on the vandalism can be found here (1, 2).
A Union-News (Springfield) article on the vandalism can be found here.
[Last updated on October 16, 2018]