Officials at a private college in Westchester are investigating a disturbing flier calling for Ku Klux Klan recruits posted in a dormitory hall last weekend.
The flier was posted on the third floor of the Westchester Marriott Hotel, which students from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry use as a residence hall.
The flier bears an image of the Ku Klux Klan hood and reads, "The Ku Klux Klan Wants You," touting the group's "great tradition of lynching Negroes."
First-year student Shiloh Watkins said she was shocked when she saw the flier.
"Why is this going on here? This is 2012, why are KKK posters up on the wall?" she recalled thinking.
The flier announced an invitation for a supposed Klan meeting at a home on the corner of Elm Street and Broadway in Dobbs Ferry, and claimed to be hosted by the Mercy College men's lacrosse team, listing three names of team members.
But authorities quickly determined there was no real meeting, and one of the students whose name was listed on the flier approached police, horrified when he discovered the flier.
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"He's upset because of the connotations it does have towards him," said Greenburgh Police Chief Joseph DeCarlo.
"There could be civil connotations, too, from the victims," said DeCarlo. "Their reputations are harmed."
DeCarlo said the matter is being investigated as a crime of aggravated harassment.
Mercy College officials may bring their own punishment to the responsible party. In a statement about the incident, officials said in part: "The college has zero tolerance for insensitive and disturbing behavior. Mercy College's code of conduct specifies offensive material cannot be posted anywhere."
