Georgetown University officials are ruling out the possibility that a loose-hanging rope found in a campus building is a noose.
An employee found the rope, which had a knotted loop, in a utility room in Healy Hall. The room is locked, and restricted to students, but can be accessed by a series of "dangerous" tunnels, officials said.
School officials sent a message to the entire campus community saying they were investigating the rope as a possible hate crime. During the investigation they also found racist graffiti in a nearby area, along with other vandalism. "We must underscore that acts of vandalism, hate and intolerance have no place in our campus community," they said in the message.
However, campus officials said Friday they no longer believe the rope was intended as a noose. They say it may have been used to climb into one of the utility tunnels. Officials also said the graffiti and other vandalism does not appear to be new.
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