George – I definitely agree that these responses (diversity seminars, anti-racism rallies) don’t do much to help. Rather, they keep students obsessing over victimhood, and they give the perpetrators what they want, attention. (I made this point in a college paper once, though the article seems not to have made it online.)
However, I don’t think it’s fair to call this incident a “molehill” of “anti-Obama” graffiti. The messages included “shoot Obama” and “kill that n*****.” The university isn’t releasing the four perpetrators’ names, and the police aren’t charging them with any crime (apparently, the wall they painted on was meant for that), though they could face university consquences. I can certainly see why some would consider the official response inadequate.