Hateful notes and emails allegedly sent to a North Park University student were “fabricated,” the school’s president said Tuesday in a statement, and the woman who claimed they were aimed toward her is no longer enrolled at the school.
“We are confident there is no further threat of repeated intolerance to any member of our campus community stemming from this recent incident,” the university’s President David Parkyn said in a statement.
The student, Taylor Volk, said on Nov. 14 she had received emails and notes taped to her door containing harassing, threatening language and mentions of President-elect Donald Trump. She had also posted pictures of notes with homophobic slurs to her Facebook account.
Volk and school officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Volk said at the time she was confident North Park was investigating the matter, although the school would not comment directly on the notes to NBC 5. The university’s marketing director, Chris Childers, said in a phone interview earlier this month “any incident that is reported to North Park is taken extremely seriously.”
A Chicago Police official said on Nov. 14 they could not find any report about the incident.
“When student safety is compromised, and when institutional values are not maintained, we will respond with resolve as we did in the most recent incident,” Parkyn said. “Additionally, we ask members of the community to reflect our institutional ethos and commitment in our interpersonal relationships—through inclusion, civility, dialogue, respect, hospitality, and a mutual love for God and all people.”
U.S. & World
North Park's campus is located in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood, noted for its diversity as an immigrant gateway community, on the city's Northwest Side.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said that there were 701 hateful incidents of harassment reported around the country in the week since the presidential election, though not all reports were verified. About 65 percent of the incidents were from the first three days following the election, and there has been a steady drop-off since, the hate-tracking group said.
Trump has called for people to stop such displays.
