'Cal Poly racist hicks' spray-painted on SLO railroad bridge

A message reading "Cal Poly racist hicks" was found spray-painted onto a San Luis Obispo railroad bridge on Friday, the latest response to a series of racist incidents at the university's campus.

The words were painted in white near the top of the bridge located near the intersection of Pepper and Monterey streets — on the east-facing side.

Justin E. Jacobs, a spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the structure, said he would need to learn more about the graffiti before determining who would be responsible for removing it.

San Luis Obispo police dispatch said no one had reported the graffiti, but an officer took a report and contacted the city's graffiti hotline and Union Pacific following The Tribune's call.

The message was likely painted in response to the fallout from social media photos showing a Lambdi Chi Alpha fraternity member wearing blackface at a party where others were dressed as gang member stereotypes.

A week of protests followed, and Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong suspended all Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Greek organizations indefinitely early this week.

Racist fliers and graffiti were also found on campus Tuesday. Armstrong issued a letter to the Cal Poly community Thursday calling the campus vandalism "the desperate work of a few who would seek to spread hate and divide us at a vulnerable time."

Vandals frequently target San Luis Obispo's railroad bridges, but the city has had trouble cleaning it up because the structures are privately owned.

After the Union Pacific bridge crossing Highway 101 near California Boulevard was vandalized in January 2015, a four-letter message remained near the top of the structure for two weeks before a "concerned citizen" — later revealed to be SLOStringer Matthew Frank — covered it up with gray paint.

This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 5:16 PM with the headline "'Cal Poly racist hicks' spray-painted on SLO railroad bridge."