NEWS NOVEMBER 06, 2019
FBI, police investigating 'It's OK to be white,' 'Islam is right about women' flyers posted on college campus
Connecticut university president promises 'severest disciplinary actions' for 'attack on our university community'
Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images
DAVE URBANSKI
Flyers declaring "It's OK to be white" and "Islam is right about women" were found Thursday night
on the campus of Western Connecticut State University, the Hartford Courant reported — and now the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as state and local police are on the case in an effort to identify who distributed them.
'Hate-filled flyers'
University President John Clark penned a strongly worded message on Friday to the campus community condemning the "hate-filled flyers" and asking people to come forward with information.
Clark said the "full-scale investigation" includes a "review of footage from our surveillance cameras as well as interviews with individuals who may have witnessed any of this despicable and utterly unacceptable behavior."
He added, "Have no doubt that we are treating this as an attack on our university community and making every effort to see that those responsible are caught and properly punished. I am fully committed to the absolutely necessary goal this does not happen again. We must be ever vigilant to protect our university against these hateful attacks."
More from Clark's message:
There is a distinct possibility this is the work of outside agitators. If correct, we will take the appropriate action to defend our university against such virulent attacks and take action against these individual(s). I want to state directly and without equivocation that if any member of our university community is found to be party to these revolting actions they will be subject to the severest disciplinary actions, including dismissal as well as possible civil and criminal actions.
I am both shocked and immensely saddened about this sick and outrageous behavior, especially since our university has worked so hard to be a warm, diverse and caring community for all, no matter their race, color, gender, sexual orientation/identification, disability and age. All members of our community should feel comfortable, safe and secure at the university. Indeed, we all should feel that WCSU is our second home.
Again, please rest assured that we are taking every measure possible and working with our law enforcement agencies to find and prosecute these sick individuals and defend our university.
Other incidents at other schools
Inside Higher Ed noted an uptick in the number of "It's OK to be white" flyers found on college campuses around the country, adding that they've typically been posted by off-campus individuals and organizations.
More from the outlet:
Last weekend leaflets with the "OK to be white" message turned up in Vermont, at the University of Vermont and Champlain College.
Since then the posters have appeared at American River College, Duke University, North Carolina State University, Tufts University, the University of Delaware, the University of Denver and the University of St. Thomas, in Minnesota.
The trend is not confined to the United States. One Canadian institution, the University of Manitoba, also had the posters turn up. In Australia, the use of the phrase by some politicians has set off a major political debate (and appearance of the posters), but in that case, the focus is not in higher education.
Also last week, white nationalist posters turned up at California State University at San Marcos.
Here's a report on "It's OK to be white" flyers found at Eastern Tennessee State University last week:
