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University police at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee Monday evening removed rainbow-colored nooses a student hung from a tree. The nooses were part of an art project for an introductory course focusing on yarn in art, according to a university statement. Police removed them, per a separate statement, “out of concern of hate symbolism and its potential impact to the campus.” The student, according to the university, supports the artwork's removal in light of backlash on campus and is “apologetic for the issues it caused.”
Many on campus, angered by the racial overtones of a noose on campus, said the project lacked artistic merit. Others suggested that the rainbow color of the nooses clearly invoked the issue of LGBTQ suicide, not racially motivated lynching.
According to a local reporter, who attended a campus town hall Tuesday, the student will not be disciplined. An FBI investigation found no hate bias and said the student was unaware of how the project would be perceived.
