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A lawsuit alleges that UNIS received more than $110 million in pledged funding from Oman and Qatar.
By Shula Rosen
An investigation is underway at the United Nations International School in Manhattan after administrators discovered swastikas and other hateful messages written in dozens of middle-school yearbooks, prompting the confiscation of the books and disciplinary measures against students allegedly involved.
The school informed parents Wednesday that offensive content had been found in the autograph pages of multiple yearbooks. Administrators said the material included “hate speech, including swastikas and antisemitic, xenophobic, racist, and homophobic remarks.”
According to the school, more than 30 yearbooks were collected as part of the inquiry.
Officials have identified 15 students who may have participated and said the books will be destroyed after the investigation is completed.
The incident also led school leaders to cancel a social event for eighth-grade students that had been scheduled for Wednesday. About 130 students were expected to attend.
UNIS spokesperson Lupe Todd-Medina said the decision was not intended as collective discipline.
“The school has made it very clear that the cancellation of the ‘social’ is not intended to be a punishment for everybody, but reflects their profound sadness and disappointment,” Todd-Medina said.
As administrators examined the incident, middle-school students attended a discussion led by the school’s diversity and inclusion director focusing on the effects of hate speech on the broader community.
Students found responsible for writing in the yearbooks were also barred from participating in Thursday’s graduation ceremony, Todd-Medina confirmed.
The controversy has drawn renewed attention to the United Nations International School, a private pre-K through 12 institution in Turtle Bay that serves many children of diplomats and charges approximately $50,000 in annual tuition.
The yearbook incident follows separate allegations raised earlier this year by a longtime Jewish teacher who filed a discrimination lawsuit against the school.
The suit alleged administrators failed to address complaints involving antisemitism and retaliated against her after she spoke out.
The lawsuit further alleged that UNIS received more than $110 million in pledged funding from Oman and Qatar and that the permanent representatives of both countries sit on the school’s board of trustees.
School officials have not announced when the investigation will be completed.
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