Sign welcoming refugees returned to Nassau Presbyterian Church

Members of the University Facilities staff found a sign on campus welcoming refugees that was originally displayed by Nassau Presbyterian Church and returned it to the church last weekend, according to Reverendof the ChurchDave Davis.

The banner states that refugees are welcome at Nassau Presbyterian Church and lists the countries previous refugee families have come from.

The banner was stolen a few weeks ago, according to Davis. He explained that it was put up a week before the large snow storm in January and disappeared sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning, following the snow storm.

Davis added that there was evidence that the banner was forcibly removed, since it was anchored to the ground with metal piping and a crossbar had to be removed from the metal piping to remove the banner. When the banner was found, it still had the crossbar attached and the surrounding metal was very bent, Davis said.

“University Facilities returned it to us like good neighbors just in a good neighborly kind of way,” Davis said. “They knew it was missing, and so they returned it.”

University Facilities did not respond to a request for comment.

Min Pullan, acting director of Media Relations at the University, said that the University was not involved in this event in any formal capacity.

For the past 50 years, the church has received a refugee family roughly every five years, according to Davis. They have come from all over the world, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Bosnia and Haiti, among others, according to Davis.

“The Nassau Presbyterian Church has been involved in refugee resettlement receiving families for almost 50 years,” Davis said. “It’s been a part of the church’s ministry.”

Currently, the church is working with Church World Service to receive a refugee family from Syria, according to Davis. He added that though the plan is still in the works and nothing is guaranteed, the church expects to be hosting families in a few months.

Davis added that the church is also involved in raising awareness about the refugee crisis and that the banner incident brought together diverse faith groups into the discussion.

When asked about why someone might have stolen the banner, Davis noted, “We have no way of knowing if the removal of the sign was a simple act of misguidance of somebody simply tearing down a sign late one night, and racing off with it or if it was a response to the message implied in the sign.”

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Davis added that it was likely an act of misguidance because when the banner was returned, it was not covered in graffiti or torn – it was simply battered. Furthermore, after the church placed another banner on display following the loss of the original one, the new banner with the same message remained undamaged for weeks, he said.

When asked to respond to the individuals who took the banner, Davis said, “Just as the refugees are welcome here, they would be welcomed into our congregation for life and it’s a statement of our hospitality and welcome for all in our community.”