Feb. 8, 2017

Statement from Robert Sellers, the University of Michigan’s chief diversity officer and vice provost for equity and inclusion:

It was extremely disappointing and upsetting to hear of the weekend report indicating someone had urinated on a prayer rug in a reflection room at the Shapiro Undergraduate Library.

The room – open to all students, faculty and staff – is largely used by members of our Muslim community. This incident is being investigated by the U-M Police Department as a bias-motivated crime. I encourage anyone who has information about this incident to contact police.

Attacks toward members of our community will not be tolerated. This kind of behavior is abhorrent and not indicative of our values as an institution.

While we continue to investigate this and any other bias-motivated incident, our goal is always to make sure we foster an environment of respect and inclusiveness so everyone in our community feels safe and welcome.

Crime log details here:

http://www.dpss.umich.edu/crime-log/

Additional steps:

These additional steps are being taken in consultation with Muslim faith community leaders and student leaders of the Muslim Student Association and the Muslim Coalition.

Replacing the carpeting in the reflection room.

Replacing the throw rug in the reflection room.

Adding key access to the reflection room, similar to how access is handled at other reflection rooms on campus.