Racist notes targeting African American students recently appeared on the campus of St. Olaf College, a Lutheran school in Minnesota. As a result, students protested and presented a list of demands to the administration.Lindsey Bever reports at the Washington Post:
Protests erupt, classes canceled after racist notes enrage a Minnesota collegeAdministrators at a liberal arts college in Minnesota canceled classes Monday to meet with students following a weekend of protests against hate speech on campus.Hundreds of students at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., staged a peaceful protest Saturday evening inside a student union building after racist expressions against students. The latest of those came just hours before the demonstrations, when a black student reported having found a note on the windshield of her car that read: “I am so glad that you are leaving soon. One less n‑‑‑‑‑ that this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up.”Some of the students protested through the night Saturday, sharing their own on-campus experiences with racism and chanting: “This ends now.” The students marched to the college chapel Sunday morning and stood in silent protest during a service.Students were expected to boycott classes Monday after two days of demonstrations.But St. Olaf spokeswoman Kari VanDerVeen said classes would not be held “so that we may have time for faculty, students, and staff to continue the discussions about racism and diversity on our campus.”
The Washington Post left out the fact that this is a very liberal campus. So much so that conservative students recently claimed they’ve been threatened with violence.
We mentioned it in a Quick Take just over a month ago:
Conservative Students Say They’ve Been Threatened With Violence at St. Olaf CollegeThere’s no “safe space” for students who vote Republican at this school. Progressive students will be the first to play victim, when they’re not intimidating those who disagree with them.The College Fix reported:
Conservative students say they have been ‘violently threatened’ at Lutheran collegeFour in five students at St. Olaf College, a Lutheran liberal arts school, voted for the Clinton/Kaine ticket in 2016, while Trump/Pence drew 1 in 10 and Johnson/Weld 1 in 20.But it’s not only that feeling of marginalization that has led conservative students to stay in the closet at the Minnesota school known for its music program, according to student newspaper Manitou Messenger:
Of the 12 students interviewed by the Manitou Messenger, several have been violently threatened because of their political beliefs, and almost all of them feel as though they can’t speak up about politics on campus – in class, online or with their friends. …On the night of the election, a student in the Pause threatened to beat up [College Republicans President Emily] Schaller, calling her a “f***ing moron.” Over the next couple of days, she overheard multiple students threaten to hurt the next conservative or Republican they saw. Vice President of St. Olaf College Republicans Kathryn Hinderaker ’19 had a similar experience.
Students who were protesting the racist notes presented a list of demands to the administration which the school president ultimately signed. Twitchy reports:
Twitchy outlines the demands:
As part of their terms, students demanded the creation of a task force led by “two faculty members of color” and “three students and one alumni member of color.”In addition to their terms and conditions, students put together a separate list of demands, which includes the creation and enforcement of “a comprehensive racial awareness and inclusiveness curriculum” and a revision of the school’s general education requirements to include “mandatory introductory courses in Race & Ethnic Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies departments.”
The racist notes at St. Olaf could be real but this situation is unfolding in a manner similar to the great Oberlin College racism hoax of 2013, in which racist posters were placed on campus by liberal students who wanted to start a dialogue.
If you wanted to force your school to mandate race and gender classes, planting racist notes on campus then expressing outrage about it and making demands would be one way to achieve it.
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