Graffiti was discovered on the Sphinx building — known colloquially as “the Tomb,” according to past reporting by The Dartmouth — today. The all-male group, located on East Wheelock Street, is Dartmouth’s oldest senior society. The Dartmouth has not yet confirmed the perpetrators nor the date of the incident.
The graffiti ranges in messaging. Examples include “All Lives Matter,” “Free Epstein,” “Free P. Diddy,” “Israel,” “Trump Pussy,” “Island Pipe Line” and “Honk Honk” next to an image of breasts. Vandalization included other lewd images, such as several penis drawings.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Safety and Security director Keiselim Montás wrote that the Sphinx building is not owned by the College, so the vandalism investigation falls under the purview of the Hanover Police department.
Hanover Police captain James Martin said the investigation into the vandalism is “pending.”
“At this point, the Hanover Police department does not have any leads to follow up on,” he said. “It is our understanding that there was a light coating of chalk [on the Sphinx] that was easily removed and there was no actual monetary damage done to the Sphinx.”
Martin added that the Police Department does not have a suspect at this time.
Update Appended (April 10, 10:22 p.m.): The article has been updated to include statements from Safety and Security director Keiselim Montás and Hanover Police department captain James Martin.
The College does not have a comment at this time.
Charlotte Hampton is the editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth. She hails from New York, N.Y., and is studying government and philosophy at the College.
She has previously worked as an intern at Bloomberg News, where she was writing about work, and the Voice of America, where she was writing for the press freedom desk. Her writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Fortune, the Miami Herald and her local paper: the West Side Rag. She is the recipient of the 2024 Reveille Seven Courage in Student Journalism Award for her reporting on campus protest in the spring of 2024. She is a member of the Board of the Student Press Law Center.
Outside of The D, she likes reading Clarice Lispector, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Annie Dillard and one sentimental copy of “A Coney Island of the Mind.”
You can reach her with tips/corrections at editor@thedartmouth.com. You may submit letters to the editor to the same email. She is also reachable on Signal at 9176831832.
