Madonna Constantine - Noose Incident

Noose Incident

In October 2007, Constantine, who is African-American, received national attention when a noose was discovered hanging on the door of her office. Students rallied on Teachers College steps and walked through Columbia's campus denouncing racism at a press conference, where Constantine read from a statement. In March, 2008, a grand jury was convened to investigate the noose incident. Columbia University stonewalled law enforcement for 24 hours, originally demanding a subpoena, before agreeing to release security tapes that could help identify the suspect. There were allegations that Constantine placed the noose on her own door in an attempt to fabricate an apparent hate crime.