A noose was found hanging from the office door of a black Columbia University Teachers College professor early yesterday morning, according to university officials and police. The professor, identified as Dr. Madonna Constantine, a 44-year-old black woman who teaches classes on racial justice, discovered the noose shortly before 10 a.m. yesterday morning and reported it to university officials.

Nooses have surfaced across the nation increasingly since the landmark Jena 6 incident involving six black teenagers and one white teenager, prompting a string of "copycat" incidents across the nation.

Yesterday evening, hundreds of students and faculty members gathered to discuss the incident and to address other racial tensions festering on campus. Today, students plan to rally, dressed in all black, in front of the Arthur Zankell Hall shortly before a scheduled town-hall meeting at Teachers College.

University officials turned the investigation over to the New York Hate Crimes Task Force, which is still investigating. Teachers College President Susan H. Fuhrman sent a statement to the college's 5,000 students and 150 faculty members, saying: "The Teachers College community and I deplore this hateful act, which violates every Teachers College and societal norm."

University President Lee Bollinger relayed his disapproval of the incident in a statement published in the college's student newspaper, saying: "This is an assault on African-Americans and therefore it is an assault on every one of us. I know I speak on behalf of every member of our communities in condemning this horrible action."

In an interview with CNN, Joe Levine, executive director of external affairs for the Teachers College, said the building in which the noose was found is accessible 24 hours a day only to students and faculty members. Despite the presence of surveillance cameras, there are no cameras in the hallway where the noose was hung.  

Columbia has long regarded itself as a champion of liberalism and free thought; however, according to the Columbia Spectator, this noose incident comes on the heels of a series of racially and politically charged events. Late last month, officials discovered racist and Isloamophobic graffiti in the bathroom stall of International Affairs Building. Many also protested a visit from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, according to Levin, nothing has happened to this magnitude.     

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