Hanover Public Schools issued an official apology Wednesday after printing T-shirts with a logo that resembled a swastika and distributing them to staff at a professional development conference.
“We are deeply sorry for this mistake and for the emotions that the logo has evoked by its semblance to a swastika,” Superintendent Michael Gill wrote in an apology. “We condemn anything associated with the Nazi regime in the strongest manner possible.”
Gill wrote that he believed the shirt design was “created without any ill-intent” by a teacher, and that the logo was intended to “represent four hands and arms grasping together” as a symbol of unity.
He added that the school division was no longer distributing the T-shirts, and that they were now attempting to remove the logo from all conference materials.
Photos of the T-shirt in question circulated online Wednesday morning, provoking heavy criticism of the school division.
The watchdog organization StopAntisemitism tweeted of the design Wednesday, stating “We’re finding it hard to believe no one stopped to question this throughout the entire design and implementation process”.
Hanover County, VA - a shirt with a logo resembling a Nazi swastika is drawing outrage amongst participants at a teachers’ learning summit.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 3, 2022
We’re finding it hard to believe no one stopped to question this throughout the entire design and implementation process @HanoverSchools! pic.twitter.com/LezNd33G3u