OBERLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scrawls of racially offensivegraffiti and, more recently, a report of someone
wearing what lookedlike a Ku Klux Klan-type hooded robe on campus have shaken students athistorically
liberal Oberlin College, one of the nation’s firstuniversities to admit blacks.A day after the school
canceled classes and students marched on campus, many remained worried about their safety."Ijust really
feel uncomfortable walking alone anywhere," ModjeskaPleasant, 19, a first-year student from Savannah,
Ga., said Tuesday.Pleasant,who is black, said she became upset after hearing a few white studentssuggest
that the racist graffiti first found a month ago andanti-Semitic and racist fliers and other messages left
around campussince then were just a prank to get out of classes.The college canceled Monday’s classes after
the early morning sighting of someone in a hooded robe. Classes resumed Tuesday.Oberlincity police Chief
Thomas Miller said investigators are trying todetermine whether the white robe sighting was reliable or
possiblyrelated to a separate sighting of a person wrapped in a blanket.Hesaid two students are under
investigation for possible involvement inthe graffiti incidents and are facing college disciplinary action,
butno criminal charges have been filed. Miller said it wasn’t clear whetherthe actions were a student prank
or motivated by bigotry.Meanwhile, the police department has provided stepped-up patrols around the campus
at the request of the college.Inan open letter, college President Marvin Krislov and three collegedeans told
the campus community that they hope the ordeal will lead to astronger Oberlin. Students and professors
gathered Monday afternoon totalk about mutual respect.Hate-filled graffiti and raciallycharged displays are
not unusual on college campuses. But what makesthis string of incidents so shocking is that it happened at a
place tiedso closely with educating and empowering blacks in America.Oberlinbegan admitting blacks nearly
180 years ago. Among its graduates areone of the first blacks elected to public office and the first
blacklawyer allowed to practice in New York state.The city itself was a stop on the Underground Railroad
that aided escaped slaves.Thecollege, with nearly 3,000 students, remains a liberal oasis in themiddle of
northern Ohio, surrounded by conservative farming towns andrust belt cities. Cleveland is about 30 miles
away.Isaac Fuhrman, a psychology major from Lexington, Mass., said the incidents were upsetting, especially
for black students."I guess for them, Oberlin doesn’t seem like such a safe haven perhaps," said
Fuhrman, who is white.TheOberlin Review campus newspaper has tracked the incidents since Feb. 9and said they
include defacing Black History Month posters with then-word, a "whites only" sign written above a
water fountain, a swastikadrawn on a science center window and a student knocked to the ground by aperson
making a derogatory comment on ethnicity.Joshua Blue, 18,a first-year student from Naperville, Ill., who is
black, said theincidents have cast the historically tolerant Oberlin community in adifferent light."We
believed that there was what people call the’Oberlin bubble,’ which is the idea that we’re in this area
where hateand anger and stuff like that doesn’t exist," he said after phoning hismother to assure her
about his safety."It’s a wonderful idea tofeel safe and accepted," Blue said. "But the recent
event was a realitythat we’re still part of the world and the issues of the world are alsoour issues and you
can’t avoid that."Blue, who is studying vocal performance, said he has begun riding home from evening
rehearsals with classmates for safety.FrancisBishop, 83, who lives near the campus, said he couldn’t
remembersimilar race-related incidents on the campus and speculated it was doneby someone trying to cause a
stir."It’s so much of an isolatedthing, in the long run I don’t think it’s going to make a hill
ofbeans," Bishop said while walking his dog near the picturesque townsquare lined with college
buildings and shops.No fraternity orsorority houses are at Oberlin, and athletics isn’t a big part of
campuslife. Instead, students come to study music, art and creative writing.Notablerecent alumni include
Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s ice creamand Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO series
"Girls" — a show featuringseveral characters who met at Oberlin.Dunham wrote on her Twitter
account Monday that she was saddened by the hate-filled incidents."HeyObies, remember the beautiful,
inclusive and downright revolutionaryhistory of the place you call home. Protect each other," she
wrote.___Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo contributed to this report.Copyright 2013 The
Associated Press.