Four students were victims of bias-related incidents in New South Hall on Sept. 6 and 11, and a similar incident occurred in Darnall Hall sometime between Sept. 11 and 13, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Swastika symbols were drawn and the name “Hitler” was written on dry-erase boards hanging on the doors to the victims’ rooms. A first-floor resident of New South, who wished to remain anonymous due to the nature of the incident, said he returned to his dorm room at night to find graffiti drawn on his dry-erase board. While the vandalism was not related to Nazism, he said he thought it was likely drawn by the same people who drew a swastika on one of his floormate’s doors. The defaced dry-erase boards were scattered throughout New South.

“The general belief is that this was done by a group of non-Georgetown students who were let into the dorm. It is positive that it was not done by Georgetown students, but it could give other people ideas,” he said.

DPS Investigative Sergeant David Ruiz said DPS could not comment on this supposition, but added that the case was under investigation and that the Metropolitan Police Department had been notified.

Students in New South responded strongly to the incidents.

“This needs to be addressed. I hope the suspects are revealed. People were pretty upset by it,” the resident said.

In an email to New South residents Monday evening, Hall Director Alberto Lorenzo and Denise Fung, area coordinator of First Year Halls and Henle Village, expressed similar sentiments.

“The actions of a few do NOT reflect the beliefs of many. Such incidents show a blatant lack of respect for others and are offensive to Hoyas who are part of New South,” the email said. “We are committed to the positive and civil exchange of ideas. Every person in New South is unique in [his or her] own way. . Part of attending any institution of higher education is having the opportunity to have meaningful and constructive dialogue where opinions can be expressed intelligently – not by anonymously leaving disparaging or attacking comments or images in buildings around campus.”

The crimes occurred between the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

“It’s disconcerting that this happened so close to the Jewish holidays,” a New South resident said. “It made the whole incident worse.”

The most recent instances of vandalism are reminiscent of a series of crimes that occurred on and around campus in the last two years. In January 2008, a student in Harbin Hall woke up to a suspect drawing a swastika on his thigh while in bed. In March 2009, the Schutzstaffel (SS) symbol was drawn graffiti-style in the Village A mailroom and a swastika symbol was spray-painted on a wooden door to Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School on the 3500 block of P Street. A cross with the SS symbol pictured across it was also drawn in graffiti onto an exterior wall of the Leavey Center in March 2009.

DPS does not have a description of the suspect, and it is unclear whether there is any link between these crimes and those of the last two years.

“It is way too early to tell if there is any link. The connecting line is that they are both hate crimes,” DPS Associate Director Joseph Smith said.