The East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, announced Tuesday afternoon following a preliminary investigation that they do not believe the incident is a hate crime, and that the main suspect is not from the area.

Gaining national attention, this event has shed negative light on MSU as a whole. Although these isolated instances have happened on campuses across the country, MSU has been attempting to create a welcoming campus for all students. And considering the event occurred during Welcome Weekend, a time when students meet and come together from all over the world, this alleged hate crime does not make MSU look welcoming.

This instance of groups of people targeting minorities on campus is not the first for MSU.
In late July, Asian students were appalled by a Twitter account named @MSU_Token_Asian whose bio read “I Come To MSU For Bettah Lifestyle,” according to a recent State News article.
African American students dealt with nooses hung on campus and racial slurs written as graffiti on dorm rooms last fall.

The Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives has been working to make MSU more accepting of all races and ethnic groups. However, racism and alleged anti-Semitism continues to occur on campus and in East Lansing.

MSU and East Lansing are very diverse locations, welcoming students from across the country and the world. Diversity among racial and religious groups, complemented by a diversity of ideas, allows students to interact with those who might have a different skin color or a different opinion.

A great majority of Spartans are accepting to different cultures and ideas, but because MSU is made up of people from many different walks of life, isolated incidents of clashes between different cultures seem inevitable.

Only one side of this incident has been reported, and although many would hope that an incident such as this alleged hate crime did not occur in East Lansing because of the hateful actions of others, the ELPD’s continued investigation of the incident most likely will provide the necessary answers to piece together a mysterious night.

Regardless of whether or not Tennen is correct, and this was indeed an anti-Semitic hate crime, students and MSU officials should continue to work to make campus and East Lansing more accepting and welcoming to all cultures and opinions, disallowing minority hate groups from flourishing in this community.