Since the election, I haven’t slept in my dorm room once. I’ve slept on couches, futons, floors and unoccupied beds in my friends’ homes. At first, it came from a need to be with people who supported me and understood how scary this political moment is for young people who grew up under the liberal auspices of an Obama presidency and came of age politically in a time marked by progressive movements such as that of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). But after I went home for clean clothes to find an anti-gay hate message written on my door, right next to a set of stickers spelling out “Vote 4 Hillary,” my couch-surfing took on new urgency. I was no longer searching for comfort from my peers — I was trying to preserve a sense of safety.

In the past month, highly visible hate crimes and bias incidents at the University of Virginia and in Charlottesville have increased rapidly, mirroring a national trend. A Star of David and the word “Juden” were spray-painted on an apartment complex popular with students; Muslim students in a residential college noted for its progressive population came home to “Terrorist” written outside their door; several officers in the university police force used the public announcement system on their police car to blast pro-Trump statements at students walking home after the results of the election became clear.

And, largely, the university’s response has fallen far short. The administration has sent emails with quotes from our esteemed founder Thomas Jefferson to quell students’ fears and bring the community together. Vague descriptions of the hate-based incidents were circulated to make us feel as if university officials were handling the situations. A protest and occupation of a Board of Visitors meeting revealed that many of the very people appointed by the governor to run our university weren’t even aware of the recent events.