Message mocking Trump trauma investigated as 'hate crime'
A message mocking students for grieving over Donald Trump’s election victory is being investigated as a hate crime at Edgewood College.
According to a letter sent out by Vice President for Student Development Tony Chambers, a student at the college started a campaign to let students and others express their feelings about the outcome of the election by placing notes on a table in the commons.
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One note—bearing the phrase “Suck it up, pussies!”—was placed on the inside window of the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion, eliciting outrage within the traumatized academic community.
“A great deal of fear, sadness, and anger among students, faculty, and staff resulted, especially for those that gather in the [office space],” Chamber asserted. “The message was hateful and harmful toward members of our community. It violated every value that this institution considers to be at its core.”
In response to the incendiary note, staff from the student conduct, human resources, Title IX, and diversity offices were brought together so they could decide how to respond to the “hateful message.”
According to Chambers, “the group determined that the message constituted a Hate Crime, based on guidelines from the Jeanne Clery Act and state law.”
[RELATED: Student gov member: Trump graffiti a ‘hate crime’]
He adds the group acted according to college policy and reported the incident to the Madison, Wisconsin Police Department, which is currently investigating it as a “Hate Crime,” and that it is also being investigated through the college’s Student Conduct Process.
“Covert micro-aggressions and overt macro-aggressions appear to have taken on new fervor in higher education since our national election,” Chambers writes. “The frequency, boldness, and severity with which hateful acts have been occurring has, for many, signaled a new era of intolerance, fear, and mistrust in higher education.”
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