LOWER MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Students are just learning about a disturbing discovery inside a CUNY classroom, a black baby doll found hanging by a rope.
It happened last week, but most on campus just learned about it over the last 24 hours in an email from the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
"A black baby doll, used as a teaching tool, was discovered in one of our classrooms, hanging from a rope around its neck," the letter read in part.
"You come to school and think it's going to be a safe haven where you can come and work on yourself and your education, and to hear something like that is upsetting, especially as a person of color," said Torin Craig, a BMCC student.
"The timing is weird, Black History Month," Benji Acquah, another student added.
The letter said CUNY Public Safety teams worked with the NYPD to quickly identify alleged offenders.
It describes the investigation as ongoing and expresses zero tolerance for hate and bigotry. Finally, it encourages students to report anything that concerns them.
PIX11 News connected with a few members of the student government who said since they heard about this last week, they have been trying to gather more information about exactly what happened, and how to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"It's kind of shocking, it's 2024, what's the reasoning behind it?" said Harileen Singh, a member of the BMCC Student Government. "There were only a few students around, but it seems like a joke, that's what I'm hearing, and we are hearing so far... it's not funny."
BMCC would only release a bare-bones statement today confirming the school is working with the NYPD and district attorney.