Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Travelers Rest Municipal Judge Jasmine Twitty released the vandalism ticket to The Greenville News.
A former Furman University football player has been charged with vandalism after students returned from fall break to find anti-Semitic symbols and “sexually explicit” comments displayed on dormitory doors.
Dan Marwick Dodd III, a former offensive lineman with the Furman Paladins, was out on bond after reportedly bringing guns on campus when he was charged in connection to the vandalism, court records show.
The university confirmed Dodd was still enrolled as a freshman at the school as of Thursday, but associate athletic director Hunter Reid said he is no longer a member of the football team.
By Friday, Dodd was no longer enrolled at the school, a university spokesman said in an email Tuesday.
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Dan Dodd III (Photo: Provided/Greenville County Public Records)
The graffiti was drawn on white boards that hang on dorm-room doors at Blackwell Hall, a co-ed dormitory for freshmen, said Clinton Colmenares, a Furman spokesman.
An email sent from Furman University to people across campus on Oct. 28 said the university’s police department identified two students who were allegedly involved and the graffiti was an isolated incident.
Initial report: Swastikas and ‘sexually explicit’ graffiti found at Furman University dorm
“One of the students, who is accused of drawing the swastikas, has been charged criminally with vandalism under South Carolina law,” the email said. “That student, as well as the other, who is suspected of being an accomplice, also face multiple Student Conduct Code charges. Federal privacy laws prevent us from identifying the students or any of the ultimate sanctions they may face. Regardless of intent, the use of language or symbols that cause intimidation, alienation or other harm are serious offenses and will not be tolerated, as outlined in the Student Handbook.”
The vandalism ticket issued by Furman police said the graffiti was done on Oct. 14 and that Dodd was charged on Oct. 25.
Football player charged with bringing guns on Furman’s campus
A few weeks before the vandalism charge, Dodd was charged on Sept. 22 with carrying or displaying firearms in public buildings or adjacent areas after campus police saw two guns in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, according to court documents.
Furman police and university officials would not provide the incident reports or any information about the case, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
FERPA, however, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s website, does not apply to law enforcement records.
“Law enforcement unit records’ (i.e., records created by a law enforcement unit at the educational agency or institution, created for a law enforcement purpose, and maintained by the law enforcement unit) are not ‘education records’ subject to the privacy protections of FERPA,” the agency’s website says.
The Travelers Rest Municipal Court processed the vandalism ticket.
After multiple requests for the ticket, Travelers Rest Judge Jasmine Twitty instructed The News to file a Freedom of Information Act request with the Travelers Rest Police Department, and released the document shortly after that request was submitted.
Speaking to The News on Wednesday, Dodd’s father, Danny Dodd Jr., said the incidents were unrelated and blown out of proportion.
“My son’s been charged with possession of a hunting firearm on campus that was in his truck — not out in public, not out for anybody’s use — that was stowed away in his vehicle during hunting season,” Danny Dodd Jr. said.
Danny Dodd Jr. said his son plans on fighting the vandalism charge because there was no destruction of property.
Colmenares said the graffiti was erased from the white boards after it was discovered.
“The vandalism charge is going to be fought — it’s not an act of vandalism on the property,” Danny Dodd Jr. said. “There was no destruction of property.”
‘It’s just bad decisions’
Danny Dodd Jr. and his wife said their son did not intend to cause harm with the graffiti and that it was a joke that other students were involved in.
“It’s just bad decisions — apparently there was a joke going around campus,” Danny Dodd Jr. said. “There was no foul-play, no hatred or nothing else involved with it. There was a lot of people involved in the whole situation, and I think he’s basically become the scapegoat for it.”
But Manya Gerstley, a freshman at Furman who is Jewish who does not live in Blackwell Hall, said the graffiti caused harm, even if it was a joke.
“I kind of felt like I was unsafe and unwanted at this point in time at this school,” Gerstley said. “I just did not feel welcome.”
Danny Dodd Jr. said university officials are still investigating the charges.
Sports Editor Jim Rice contributed to this report.
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