Hi all!
Thanks so much for supporting this petition. President Cartwright still has not responded to our demands and UCF released a very bad statement that doesn't even mention the word "Nazi." It was also only released through selective social media (only as a story on Instagram) and the operators of the UCF Instagram account have been DMing people the link when they post our link to this petition in their stories. They are trying to silence us and our movement.
We say that their reaction and their statement are NOT ENOUGH.
Our president whose salary WE PAY through our tuition dollars has not said anything to condemn this rhetoric. He didn't even retweet the statement. Further, this statement lumps together bomb threats from across the country with the recent Nazi demonstrations in our area.
UCF's refusal to condemn Nazi rhetoric is despicable. UCF wants us to "take care of each other," effectively removing themselves from any blame or involvement, which is also despicable. UCF says that hatred, bigotry, and acts of intimidation do "not align with our institutional values" then ask us to "embrace the open exchange of ideas that is central to academic freedom and freedom of expression." Embracing Nazi rhetoric and discourse is despicable and UCF should be disgusted with itself for suggesting that.
Stand with us to demand action from the people whose salaries we support!
We demand that UCF:
- Condemns Nazi rhetoric and actions going forward. President Cartwright must release an email to the UCF listserv, as well as on his social media that acknowledges his silence and inaction and agrees to our demands.
- Redact the statement at: https://www.ucf.edu/news/as-knights-we-stand-together-to-condemn-hate/ and release one that explicitly identifies Nazi actions and UCF's steps to combat Nazi actions and rhetoric on campus
- Provide extensive, FREE counseling to students who have been affected by this violence.
- Host open discussions across camps that center students of color and discuss the negative impacts that Nazi rhetoric and hate speech has on our campus community.
- Disallow campus visitors who use fighting words against various identities of our students and preach that their vitriol is covered under Free Speech. These campus visitors disrupt everyday life on campus and do not "align with our institutional values and do not belong in our community."
Thank you again for your support! Please have your friends sign the petition too, and follow us on Instagram/Twitter @ucf_ydsa for more updated information.