Phoenix, AZ, February 17, 2005 … Swastikas discovered painted on the walls of the Scottsdale Community College (SCC) Performing Arts Center yesterday did not deter the initial offering in a film series on hate co-sponsored by SCC and the Arizona Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). "The Many Faces of Hate" film series opened with the film "Forgotten Fires," the story of the Ku Klux Klan-inspired burning of two South Carolina churches in 1995. 

Bill Straus, ADL Arizona Regional Director, called the vandalism despicable and stated, "It's highly unlikely that the timing of this hateful act of vandalism and the launching of a film series all about different kinds of hate is merely coincidental. 

"The intent of the perpetrators clearly was to intimidate, but it only served to underscore the need for and importance of showing the films.  That point was not lost on our attendees, who mentioned the vandalism repeatedly in the post-film discussion." 

The vandalism was being investigated by campus security and the Salt River/Pima Tribal Police.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.