By Derek Hawkins

Northeastern police have identified the individual who allegedly scrawled a swastika and a racist slogan on the entrance of a freshman residence hall last week, according to Northeastern University Division ofPublic Safety (NUPD).

The individual, whose name was not released, is a 22-year-old male guest of a resident of Stetson West, where the graffiti appeared last Wednesday morning, police said.

Surveillance footage from the residence hall led police to the alleged tagger. NUPD conducted a brief investigation and was granted a criminal complaint against the individual, a non-student. He is expected to be arraigned in Roxbury District Court April 10, Northeastern spokesperson Fred McGrail said.

A proctor in Stetson West reported the hateful graffiti to NUPD in the early hours of March 19. The incident prompted swift reaction from student groups and President Joseph Aoun.

In a letter addressed to students and sent late last night, the Student Government Association (SGA) executive board called on students to confront similar acts of discrimination.

“It is truly disheartening to see such hateful words used on our campus,” the letter said. “To think that such an ignorant act would occur here is not only a slap in the face to each of us as a member of this community, but also a significant bump in the road to strengthening our understanding of the world around us.”

Zack Trahan, an undecided freshman and Stetson West resident, said he’d heard of similar incidents in his and other residence halls and believed they were difficult to address.

“It’s kind of a burden for this whole place to have to carry the reputation. This is like the third hate crime. It’s pretty immature,” he said. “People are going to do what they do.”

– News staff writer Rachel Zarrell contributed to this report.