Editors’ note: This story was updated on Nov. 19 to clarify an attribution to a source.

Washington and Lee’s Public Safety department discovered vandalism inside the Red House, the campus’s center for LGBTQ+ life, on Nov. 7, according to a Nov. 8 email from President Will Dudley to the campus community.

Words were sprayed onto the walls and doors of the house with purple spray paint and a banner was torn down, according to a student familiar with the situation. The student, who spoke with the Phi under the condition of anonymity to preserve their privacy and safety, said they visited the Red House after they received Dudley’s email. But the graffiti had already been scrubbed off, the student said.

Neither the university nor the police have disclosed the content of the graffiti.

The Lexington Police Department is conducting an investigation of the incident, according to Dudley’s email. Public safety and the Lexington Police Department declined to comment on this story, citing the ongoing investigation.

“There is no place for harassment, intimidation, or vandalism at Washington and Lee,” wrote Dudley. “Anyone found responsible for this act will be held fully accountable in accordance with university policy and the law.”

Legal ramifications for those found responsible could be up to five years in prison and fines of up to $2,500 depending on the extent of property damages, according to Virginia law.

Students are not allowed inside the Red House while the investigation is ongoing, one public safety officer on the scene told the Phi. While the investigation is underway, the university has increased security patrols around the Red House and campus, according to Dudley’s statement.

The Red House has three doors on the ground level: two require a swipe card to be unlocked, and one does not. The door that does not require a swipe was locked on the morning of Nov. 8 when a Phi reporter arrived at the scene. There was no evidence of forced entry at any of the Red House doors.

Student cards were still working at the swipe entrances on Nov. 8, and several students were able to see the aftermath of the damage, according to the student familiar with the situation.

Despite what some were able to see in the Red House, both students and faculty said they remain in the dark about the incident. When Sarah Horowitz, the head of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department and a member of the queer community, was asked about the incident by fellow faculty, she said she was heartbroken to not have any answers to give them.

“It is scary to think that there is someone in the community […] who has that much animosity and feels emboldened to act on it,” Horowitz said.

Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment spreads on campus and across the country

Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment has been observed on campus before.

In 2016, Sheamus Craugh, a former member of the class of 2018, was charged with felony vandalism after spray painting homophobic graffiti on The Sustainability House and several cars, according to reporting by the Phi. He dropped out that year, after the incident.

After Craugh pled guilty to a lesser charge, he received a suspended sentence of 90 days in jail, according to the Roanoke Times. Additionally, Craugh completed 75 hours of community service and paid the university more than $1,000 for the damages.

Years later, in September 2023, Matt Walsh, a conservative commentator who once called himself “transphobe of the year,” gave anti-LGBTQ+ remarks at the university after being invited by student groups that included the College Republicans, according to reporting by the Phi.

LGBTQ+ students and organizations advocated against the event, making a petition that received hundreds of signatures to ask the university to cancel Walsh’s visit.

In a statement to student leaders involved with the petition, Dudley said all ideas were welcome at the university, according to previous reporting by the Phi.

“Sometimes the views of invited speakers are objectionable to members of our community. But as an academic institution, our purpose is to help our students learn to examine, evaluate, and express points of view, so that they may become lifelong learners, responsible leaders, and engaged citizens,” Dudley wrote. “Toward this end, we provide a setting in which all ideas can be freely exchanged, discussed, and debated.”

Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and threats have been on the rise across the country since 2022, according to ABC. In 2021, 20% of all hate crimes committed were motivated by bias against LGBTQ+ people.

Many news outlets are forecasting a grim future for LGBTQ+ rights in the country ever since this month’s election resulted in a victory for former President Donald Trump. Trump has pledged to ban transgender people from participating in military service and stop minors from receiving gender-affirming care, according to NBC.

“This is a disheartening moment, but we are stronger than the hate that continually tries to minimize our role in this community,” wrote the president of W&L’s Queer Liberation Alliance in an email to the Phi.

Kindness and respect are core values of the university, Dudley wrote in his statement earlier this month. He urged the university to stand with the LGBTQ+ students and faculty who were targeted in the act of vandalism.

Yet LGBTQ+ students were concerned about their campus center long before the vandalism occurred.

The Red House is slated to be torn down within the next few years to make room for the upcoming construction of the Institutional History Museum, according to a recent Phi article. While the space sees few academic uses, some students are saddened by the news because of the role the Red House holds as a safe space for LGBTQ+ students.

The LGBTQ+ community on campus has been trying to organize a queer theme house in recent years, according to reporting by the Phi. However, such efforts have stalled.

In the meantime, the university has support resources available for queer students. The LGBTQ Resource Center can help students access material resources, and queer peer counselors can serve as confidential mentors to help guide students through mental health or transitional struggles.