Racist graffiti discovered on Meharry Medical College’s campus

Meharry Medical College announced a “non-violent hate crime” occurred on its campus, after racist graffiti was found in a parking garage.

The message read, “[N-word]s should die.”

A still unidentified person wrote it on a remote part of the parking garage on Albion Street. That also houses parking for Nashville General Hospital and a VA clinic.

“We do not tolerate hate and will fiercely defend the welfare and dignity of our community,” Meharry President and CEO Dr. James Hildreth said in a written statement. “This abhorrent act will not shake who we are—and have been—for almost 150 years.”

Meharry was founded in 1876 and is one of the oldest medical schools in the country. For decades, Meharry and Howard University were the only medical schools in the country that trained Black doctors.

A series of reported threats toward historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. earlier this month led to lockdown orders, cancelled classes and heightened security, according to the Associated Press.

Southern University in Louisiana, Alabama State University, Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, Virginia State University, Hampton University in Virginia and Bethune-Cookman University in Florida all reported threats.

Although initial threats have been investigated and lockdowns have since been lifted, some universities have opted to call off classes for the rest of the week or send students home. The abundance of caution was taking place one day after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an event at a Utah university, which sparked political unrest and threats, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities did not elaborate on the type of threats that were made and no injuries have been reported. The FBI told The Associated Press that they are taking the “hoax threat calls“ seriously and that there is “no information to indicate a credible threat.”