Seth Kline, Guest PhotographerGrey and white latex paint was splattered on the Cabrini College sign at the college’s entrance on Eagle and King of Prussia Roads. Although officials do not have any suspects, some students believe the vandalism could be retaliation from Eastern University students.
The sign was vandalized on Wednesday, April 16. In addition to the paint, the sign’s ball finials were broken. The plants around the sign were pulled out and the light that illuminates the sign was smashed. Howard Holden, director of facilities, said, “we don’t have a price on how much damage was done.”
When facilities noticed the vandalism, they reacted by getting water on the paint. Using scrapers and a power washer, a team of personnel cleaned the sign for about three hours, according to Holden.
“Thank goodness it was latex paint and not oil,” Holden said. “We were able to power wash the paint off the sign and now we’re assessing what the damage really is. The ball finials will not be inexpensive, and getting new limestone to match the old limestone won’t be an easy task.”
This past weekend, the light that shines on the sign was damaged again. “Whatever is going on isn’t over,” Holden said. “Eastern has been having the same problems. Someone keeps stealing the letters from their sign. We’re not sure whether there is an internal rivalry game going on or some force outside. We’re not sure who the source is.”
Since facilities reacted immediately, many students were not aware of the incident. But commuter Matt Cornely, a junior English and communications major, witnessed the damage as he arrived at Cabrini for his 9:35 a.m. class.
“I saw grey and white paint splashed on the sign,” Cornely said. “I think it was a college prank between Eastern and Cabrini. The letters from Eastern’s sign were missing, so they splashed paint on our sign.”
There is little evidence linking the vandalism to a cross-street rival between students from Cabrini and Eastern. However, over Thanksgiving break, the letters from Eastern’s sign, located across the street from Cabrini’s sign, were missing.
Angela Hodgeman, resident director of the Cabrini Apartment Complex, reported to Eastern University’s student newspaper that she saw the stolen letters in the CAC parking lot. “I saw, literally, just letters in the parking lot,” Hodgeman said in an article in Eastern’s student newspaper. “I could tell that they spelled ‘Eastern University.'” According to the same article, it cost Eastern between $3,000 and $4,000 to replace the stolen letters.
Dave Johanson, a senior sports science major, said, “I think a little friendly rivalry can be fun, but it’s not fair that maintenance has to clean up after us. If that was their prank, it sucked.”
Whether the vandalism was caused by a friendly rivalry or an outside source, the incidents are under investigation by Cabrini College Public Safety and Radnor Police.
“This is not like dorm damage where we would charge students for the damage,” Holden said. “The goal is to find the culprits. Hopefully we put an end to this.”
Posted to the web by Matthew Cavalier
