An Illinois college student forged homophobic messages she claimed were taped to her dorm room door, school administrators say.
Last week Taylor Volk, a senior at North Park University in Chicago, said she was singled out for harassment with a note telling her to go “back to hell.”
The letter also read “#Trump” and included several homophobic slurs, and was followed by two anonymous emails with similar language.
Volk, who is bisexual, warned on Facebook, “This is a countrywide epidemic all of a sudden.”
But now administrators at North Park, a Christian college on Chicago’s Northwest Side, are insisting her claim was a hoax.
“Sadly, we discovered that the incident and related messages were fabricated,” said school president David Parkyn, adding that Volk was no longer a student there.
“We are confident there is no further threat of repeated intolerance to any member of our campus community stemming from this recent incident.”
Parkyn says North Park embodies principles of “inclusion, civility, dialogue, respect, hospitality and a mutual love for God and all people.”
The school does have an Office of Diversity and active student LGBT group, Queers and Allies.
While Volk has not publicly commented on Parkyn’s statement, her original Facebook post has been taken down.
Supporters of Donald Trump are using the incident to discredit much of the racist and homophobic harassment that has arisen since the election.
