Cal Poly Pomona club says vandalism was 'hate crime'

Cal Poly Pomona Mexican American Student Association (MASA) and the May 1st Coalition, some members holding photos of defaced letters, held a press conference on campus on May 11, 2006, to denounce a recent hate incident where the Cal Poly Pomona CPP letters were painted over with racial words and offending sketches by an unknown group. The offended students want the school to denounce any and all types of hate crime towards anyone. (Staff Photo by Raul Roa)

POMONA - It wasn't easy climbing a steep hill at dawn while lugging buckets of green, white and red paint -- 5 gallons each -- to paint the letters "CPP'' set in the hillside overlooking Cal Poly Pomona last week.

The students wanted to commemorate Cinco de Mayo and the 40th anniversary of their club, the Mexican American Student Association, by painting the letters with the colors of the Mexican flag. They had permission from the university to do so, as part of a tradition in which different campus clubs reserve slots to decorate the letters.

But days later, students found the letters defaced with ugly messages. An expletive was sprayed across one of the letters, along with an obscene image of a naked woman and male genitals, and Greek letters. The formerly green "C'' was painted blue.

Students from a variety of cultural groups decried the vandalism Thursday.

"It's funny how (the vandals) claim to be patriots of the U.S., painting the letters red, white and blue, while performing a criminal act,'' said [color="Red"]Amir Mertaban, an international business marketing student.

International Business Marketing 4th year student Amir Mertaban, of Monrovia, addressed the crowd during the Cal Poly Pomona Mexican American Student Association (MASA) and the May 1st Coalition press conference on campus on May 11, 2006. (Staff Photo by Raul Roa)

Ricardo Ortega, president of the Mexican American Student Association, said one of his members noticed the vandalism Saturday. By Monday, the university had painted over the obscene message and images, and the next day, students trudged up the hill again to repaint the blue letter green.

"We support free speech, but this was vandalism, this was hate,'' Ortega said. MASA is a community service club whose members tutor students and give campus tours to elementary schools among other activities, he said.

Other students said the letters have been defaced a few times before, when the Pride Center (a campus organization for gay and lesbian students) painted the letters in rainbow colors.

University spokeswoman Uyen Mai said campus police are investigating the vandalism, and that the fraternity whose letters were spray-painted was not necessarily responsible. She said the culprits may not have been Cal Poly Pomona students.

"It's hard to tell who the vandals who defaced the letters are, and we don't want to make assumptions,'' Mai said, adding the letters are visible from the freeway. She said painting the letters is a cherished tradition.

"It's a student experience, to schedule a time to climb up, paint it, and see their creative expression on the letters,'' she said.

Ortega said he thinks the vandals were students because they would have to know where the path up the hill is.