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Racial Incidents At Jesuit High Under Investigation

Racist Note Found In Student's Locker

POSTED: 6:48 am PDT October 7, 2008
UPDATED: 7:10 pm PDT October 7, 2008

Two racial incidents at Jesuit High School led school administrators to send a letter home to parents Monday.

Beaverton police stepped in to investigate after a racist note was found in a locker and racial slurs were found written on a presidential race poster at the private school, which is located on the border of southwest Portland and Beaverton.

Administrators at Jesuit said they think students from another school are to blame in one case but they think a Jesuit student may be behind two of the threats.

A Jesuit student found the note in her locker last Thursday. Beaverton police said part of the note read, "Jesuit is just for white people," and "you need to leave."

School officials said only a Jesuit student would know that the locker belonged to an African American student.

"It's almost beyond comprehension that something like that would happen," said Robert Phillips, a student at the school.

On Sunday night, another note showed up on the front doorstep of the student's home in southwest Portland.

Her older brother, who spoke on camera but was only identified as "John," said the culprits took it to another level when they left the note on the family's porch.

"When you're actually searching out where they live and leaving statements on their porch, it's really scary," he said. "It's sad."

In a separate incident last week, racial slurs were written on a McCain-Obama poster near the Jesuit High School library. School officials said the incident is believed to be the work of some Beaverton High School students who were seen on campus the day before.

Beaverton police are trying to track down the students.

"I hope they get caught and dealt with," Phillips said.

Meanwhile, the victim's brother said his main focus is making sure the culprits realize the effect of their crime. He said he hopes the people responsible realize "how they're scarring someone, how they're scarring a family, how they're scarring a community and No. 1, how they're scarring their own school."

Others students said Tuesday that they are shocked.

"I feel that Jesuit is my home. I go to school here every day. I'm comfortable. I have friends here. I've benefited a lot from going here. It's a great place to be and it's just sad to me that someone would do that to one of my fellow students," Alpha Tessema senior class vice president.

School administrators said they plan to hold classroom meetings Tuesday to discuss the incidents.

Beaverton police are investigating but Jesuit is also doing its own investigation.

Administrators said if a student did write the racist note they will be severely disciplined and could be expelled.

Related:
  • Read Jesuit High School Statement On Incidents
  • Racial Incidents At Jesuit High Under Investigation

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