Erasing Message of Hate : Vandalism: SDSU students gather to erase, denounce swastikas painted over murals representing minority cultures.

San Diego State University students and campus officials on Thursday morning discovered nearly a dozen swastikas spray-painted over murals of Malcolm X, the Mexican flag and a lesbian symbol.

By early afternoon, hundreds of students had gathered to paint over the Nazi symbols.

Vandals sprayed swastikas on murals painted by black, Latino, Asian, gay and lesbian student organizations, SDSU spokesman Rick Moore said. The student groups had painted their murals on a wall erected last spring around a campus construction site.

Hundreds of students held a rally on campus and moved to reclaim the wall for their messages by painting over the defaced murals, including one of the continent of Africa and another depicting an Asian American student.

“I feel for people who are ignorant to the ways that society should be. I pity the people who did it,” said Armando T. Zuniga, a member of MEChA, a Latino student organization whose mural was defaced.

In a letter to the campus community, SDSU President Thomas B. Day described hate crimes, like the swastika incident, as “repugnant to the campus environment and contrary to the educational mission of the university.”

Members of the Asian American Student Alliance, whose mural also was defaced, said they plan to begin work Saturday on a new mural, twice the size of the original, which will make a statement about Asians in higher education and speak out against racism, said Ted Ricasa, chairman of the alliance.

“It (the incident) was good because it gave students the opportunity to see the prevailing ignorance that exists, but the bad side is that the ignorance is even there,” Ricasa said. “Right now, students are more angry than hurt.”

Students said they now plan to join together to respond to the hate crime. Some discussed forming a new student organization with representatives from different campus groups, similar in style to the United Nations.