October 30, 1986
Racist messages deface steps to Lilly Hall
Racist messages were discovered at 8:45 a.m. on the steps of Lilly Hall, home of the Smith College Cultural Center. Physical Plant staff members quickly arrived at the scene, and by 9:20 a.m., the messages had mostly been washed away. The incident shocked much of campus, but some students claimed that even though this was a blatant example, “racism has always existed on this campus.” In addition, the speed with which the messages were cleaned up was seen as negative by some students, who claimed the administration was just trying to “cover it up” and should let people see that there is racism at Smith.
The contents of the racist messages can be found here.
[Last updated on October 31, 2018]