Georgetown University Medical Center. Photo: Georgetown University.

A swastika and Klu Klux Klan initials drawn on the wall of a bathroom at the Georgetown University medical school in Washington, DC serve as a “powerful and important reminder…that…unfortunately, we need to stay vigilant against antisemitism and to check ourselves for it, too,” GU’s Director for Jewish Life told the student newspaper The Hoya this week.

Rabbi Rachel Gartner was responding to the appearance of the offensive graffiti, first reported on September 21, about which the executive dean of GU’s School of Medicine, Edward B. Healton, stated: “This fateful action will not be tolerated. We are a community that is welcoming to all people that values understanding, dignity, inclusion and respect.”

According to The Hoya, the Georgetown University Police Department said that the incident is being investigated and that there is no cause for any serious alarm. “There was nothing written that was threatening and that charted a course of action,” said GUPD Chief Jay Gruber, assuring that if and when the perpetrator is caught, he or she could be barred from the campus. Furthermore, he added, if it turns out to be a student who desecrated the wall, he or she could face disciplinary action. In the meantime, anyone with information relating to the case is being asked to come forward.

This is the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents on US college campuses. According to a recent watchdog report, during the first half of 2016, 52 percent of 113 schools examined had experienced the phenomenon — up 58% from the same period last year.