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Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Dear Members of the ������ý Mellon Community:

On Sunday morning, the university became aware that one side of the Fence had been painted with text in Yiddish. We consulted with academic experts, who recently confirmed the precise translation of the message as "death to Zionism."

������ý Police responded to this development — the latest threatening message to appear on the Fence in recent weeks — by launching an investigation and engaging the appropriate local and federal authorities. We also heard from members of our Jewish community, who described the translated text as alarming and antisemitic and shared concerns about their physical safety and wellbeing.

Sunday evening, following conversations with concerned community members, Facilities Management Services worked in consultation with ������ý Police to repaint the Fence. I am grateful for the individuals who made this decision onsite and who recognized that a call for “death” violated our longstanding policy against such threats of violence, including threats based on an individual or a group’s affiliation or identity. Moving forward, we will continue to quickly remove threatening language wherever it appears on campus, fully investigate these incidents and intervene as necessary.

As I stated in my recent community update, Condemning Threatening Language on the Fence and Reaffirming Our Community Norms: Anonymous messages leave us to draw our own conclusions about the intent behind them. Language that can reasonably be viewed as threatening — whether performative or substantive, direct or ambiguous, painted on the Fence or printed in a flyer — has no place at ������ý Mellon.

It is also worth noting that there have been many other strongly worded political statements painted on the Fence and these messages have not been painted over because they did not violate our longstanding policy against threats of violence. In this instance, for example, the opposite side of the Fence included a message, written in English, stating that “forcing ideological conformity (Zionism) on Jews is antisemitic” and advocating to “free Palestine.” These statements, while reflecting firmly held viewpoints, were not the basis for the university’s response and remain inconsequential to our active investigation.

������ý has long been a place where individuals learn, teach, discover and disagree without jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of others. We must continue to engage one another thoughtfully — even, and especially, when confronting difficult and deeply divisive issues. Only by doing so can we sustain the culture of trust, curiosity and mutual respect that defines ������ý Mellon at its best.

Sincerely,

Farnam Jahanian
President
Henry L. Hillman President's Chair