{"id":1014,"date":"2025-04-07T12:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T12:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2025-04-13T00:16:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T00:16:51","slug":"mills-stunned-days-after-muslim-prayer-room-desecration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/mills-stunned-days-after-muslim-prayer-room-desecration\/","title":{"rendered":"Mills \u2018stunned\u2019 days after Muslim prayer room desecration"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Linda Mills encouraged students to \u201ccome together to find a peaceful way forward\u201d in her first universitywide message addressing <\/span>the desecration of a prayer room<\/span><\/a> in Bobst Library.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am stunned to think that someone in our midst can have done something so hateful,\u201d Mills wrote in the Sunday email. \u201cIt is egregious and outrageous \u2014 and not a reflection of the community we treasure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The incident, which is being investigated as a hate crime and act of Islamophobia, included urination on prayer mats and illustrations depicting male genitalia across the room\u2019s walls. The vandalism took place during Eid Fest, an event organized by Muslim student organizations on campus. Mills said the university has \u201czero tolerance for bigotry of this sort\u201d and that \u201cno one who undertakes such desecration deserves a place at NYU.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly following the vandalism, emails from a university spokesperson and Campus Safety head Fountain Walker said NYU launched an investigation into the incident, which will be conducted in cooperation with New York City\u2019s Hate Crimes Task Force. Mills said that the perpetrator, once identified, will be subject to the university\u2019s \u201cmost severe sanctions\u201d in addition to legal consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mills also said that members of the NYU leadership met with Muslim students on Friday, who felt \u201cangry, heart-stricken, sickened and scared\u201d following the incident. She added that NYU will make efforts to improve the \u201csecurity and sanctity\u201d of on-campus prayer rooms. On Thursday, <\/span>several student groups<\/span><\/a> demanded that the university install additional security cameras and send more immediate communications regarding hate crimes and instances of Islamophobia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sunday email comes after on-campus student groups <\/span>criticized Mills<\/span><\/a> for not immediately condemning the incident. In an Instagram post, Students for Justice in Palestine <\/span>had referenced her crackdown<\/span><\/a> on last year\u2019s Gaza Solidarity Encampment shortly after Maghrib prayer and her <\/span>communication with a \u201cself-proclaimed Islamaphobe,\u201d<\/span><\/a> an NYU parent who runs a popular Facebook page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, Muslim student leaders at NYU <\/span>said in a post online<\/span><\/a> that students met with Dean of Students Rafael Rodriguez, Walker and representatives from the Mills\u2019 office. They also cited their petition <\/span>condemning acts of Islamophobia on campus<\/span><\/a>, which they said garnered more than 1,000 student signatures in under 24 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have more follow-up meetings planned soon to continue these discussions,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWe\u2019re pushing for immediate changes to protect our spaces and are not accepting empty promises or generic emails \u2014 we\u2019re demanding specific actions that will make a real difference for our community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The group Faculty and Staff Against Antisemitism at NYU publicly condemned the act as a hate crime <\/span>in a statement on Friday<\/span><\/a>. The group, which has <\/span>previously criticized SJP<\/span><\/a> and other Muslim student groups, said that its members \u201cknow what it means to feel unsafe, targeted and unwelcome because of faith and identity,\u201d and urged NYU to \u201cswiftly identify and discipline those responsible.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NYU\u2019s Student Government Assembly also <\/span>condemned the vandalization<\/span><\/a>, stating that the hate crime was \u201ca reminder of the discrimination, hate and hostility that Muslims face daily outside of that room.\u201d The statement also listed resources such as the NYU Wellness Exchange and Bias Response Line to create a safe environment for students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mills said NYU is \u201ccooperating fully\u201d with the investigation, which has been ongoing since Thursday afternoon. The letters \u201cAEPI,\u201d which many claimed to be in reference to the off-campus Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi which was <\/span>suspended from NYU<\/span><\/a> for hazing in 2015, were chalked onto the wall. In a statement to WSN, the group condemned the vandalism and said it was “not aware” that any of its members were involved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement, the Islamic Center at NYU referenced students\u2019 safety concerns in the wake of \u201cincreasing governmental policies that marginalize and criminalize Muslim communities.\u201d Over the past month, the Trump administration has detained at least nine students and faculty across the country for their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests, and revoked hundreds of student visas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery prayer we offer once our space reopens is an act of reclaiming what belongs to us,\u201d Muslim student leaders said in their joint statement. \u201cEvery time we visibly practice our faith on this campus, we assert our right to be here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Update, April 7: This article has been updated with a statement from AEPI.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Contact Liyana Illyas at\u00a0news@nyunews.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story Mills \u2018stunned\u2019 days after Muslim prayer room desecration<\/a> appeared first on Washington Square News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Linda Mills encouraged students to \u201ccome together to find a peaceful way forward\u201d in her first universitywide message addressing the desecration of a prayer room in Bobst Library.\u00a0 \u201cI am stunned to think that someone in our midst can have done something so hateful,\u201d Mills wrote in the Sunday email. \u201cIt is egregious and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1017,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions\/1017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}