At least two students at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania have been suspended from the swim team after it was revealed that a racial slur had been carved on a student’s body, officials said.

The school administration had “received an extremely disturbing report that a student had been carved with a plastic or ceramic tool with a racial slur,” the 2,200-student private liberal arts college in Gettysburg said in a statement last week.

“This is a serious report that is being actively evaluated as part of the student conduct process,” the college said. “At this time, the students involved are not participating in swim team activities.”

The school declined to provide further details, citing this process and data protection laws.

The family of the student in question told Gettysburg College’s student newspaper, The Gettysburgian, that their son was the victim of a hate crime. They said the perpetrator, a person he “trusted,” used a box cutter to cut the N-word into their son’s chest, the newspaper said.

The alleged victim is one of the students barred from participating in swim team activities while the college investigates the incident, the family said. In a statement to the newspaper, they said their son was “interviewed by members of the coaching staff and summarily dismissed (not suspended) from the swim team” within two days of the incident.

The Gettysburgian did not name anyone.

The incident is believed to have occurred during an “informal social gathering in a campus dormitory” and was first reported by seniors on the swim team, Gettysburg College President Robert Iuliano said. The family said the incident happened on Sept. 6.

“Two weeks ago, on Friday evening, September 6, our son was the victim of a hate crime. The incident occurred at a swim team meeting,” the alleged victim’s family said in their statement to The Gettysburgian. “It is important to note that he was the only person of color at that meeting. The reprehensible act was committed by a fellow student and athlete, someone he considered his friend, someone he trusted. This student used a box cutter to carve the N-word on his chest.”

It was not immediately clear how the insult was allegedly carved into the student’s chest. Neither the school administration nor the family commented further in their statements.

Iuliano described being “deeply dismayed by what has happened” and the impact it has on those who have long been underrepresented on campus, as well as the consequences “for a community that continues its efforts to create a truly inclusive environment.”

“Regardless of the relationship and regardless of the motivation, there is no place on this campus for words or actions that demean, degrade or exclude anyone because of their identity and history,” he said in a statement, also warning against speculation “based on fragments of information that may or may not be accurate.”

City Police Chief Robert Glenny Jr. said he contacted the college after hearing news reports and was told the victim chose to handle the matter through the college’s internal process, even though college officials encouraged the person to report the matter to police, WGAL-TV reported.