By Donald Gilpin

“We are issuing a joint call to all community leaders, institutions, and organizations to speak up and speak out against hatred, racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, and all acts of hate in our community,” read the statement from local municipal and religious leaders. “We all must be very clear that hate has no home here in Princeton С in our conversations, in our offices and schools, and in our social media.”

Mayor Liz Lempert, Police Chief Nick Sutter, the Rev. David Davis of the Nassau Presbyterian Church, and Rabbi Adam Feldman of The Jewish Center were writing in support of an earlier statement from the Princeton Public Schools in response to an incident of vandalism С with racist, anti-Semitic, and sexual messages С of a Google spreadsheet from a John Witherspoon Middle School (JWMS) science lab. 

They continued, “We call on everyone in our community to take the time to have the difficult conversations on this topic, to talk at home and in school, in the office, the church, the synagogue, with friends, family, teachers, and clergy so that we can unite against hatred. There may be no more important conversations we can have.”

The source of the hate speech is unknown, as the school district continues to investigate the hacking incident. “Our investigation suggests that one student at JWMS posted the spreadsheet to an online platform and thereby opened it to the world,” Superintendent Steve Cochrane said at last week’s Board of Education meeting. “It was subsequently hacked with messages of hate, but those messages could have come from anywhere in the world and likely included numerous individuals.”

Cochrane went on to discuss the importance of protecting students against hate in the world, “but we also need to empower them to stand against it.”

JWMS Principal Jason Burr has been meeting with eighth grade students to talk about this incident and how to to “create a safe, inclusive, and respectful school community.” The district is also seeking to team up with the Anti-Defamation League and exploring their peer leadership program entitled A World of Difference.

Burr wrote in a letter to eighth grade parents this week, and Cochrane reiterated, “we all need to make sure we are upstanders rather than bystanders.”

Cochrane concluded with a final appeal to the whole community, “to take a stand against the injustices we see in our day-to-day lives and to model that stance for one another. I’m asking for each of us to call out the comments we hear that make us or others uncomfortable, to advocate for those around us who are vulnerable, and to stand against disrespectful messages and actions.”

Echoing Cochrane’s plea, the town officials and religious leaders urged, “Please join us as we recommit ourselves to speak out against acts of bigotry of any kind. As we move into the winter holiday season, let’s all strive to be that light in the midst of darkness that can provide hope and strength and comfort and light, to begin to remove hatred from our community.”