Posted on March 31, 2017

White Nationalism Posters at UMBC

Lucas Tiderman, Retriever Weekly, March 29, 2017

In recent weeks, racist white nationalist and otherwise alt-right posters have been appearing at UMBC as well as campuses around Baltimore and throughout the nation. The unofficial UMBC Alt-Right group appears to be behind some of the postings on campus.

So-called hate groups advertising on college campuses are not a new trend; however, UMBC students are alarmed by the organization and intensity of this latest wave of postings. Some posters placed outside of the library on light poles read, “UMBC Alt-Right. Identity, Order, and Strength.” Another poster had a picture of Thomas Jefferson and asked students to “Embrace white identity today.”

Alt Right Posters

Although the posters and stickers were quickly removed by general student body not long after they were found, many still wondered what the campus was going to do.

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The immediate response of UMBC Administration was to pen an email to the student body, showing support for freedom of speech on campus but condemning the posting of signage on fixtures not designed to hold advertisements and that are contrary to other parts of the UMBC Posting Policy.

Still, other entities on campus are taking action against these postings.

From noon to one o’clock on Monday, March 27, UMBC Progressives, alongside several other student organizations, planned to have students that “hate white supremacy” sign a 48 inch volleyball on Academic Row that will be given to the Mosaic Center.

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Similar occurrences have occurred at nearby institutions such as College Park, which recently had posters urging white Americans to report “illegal aliens” to authorities. {snip}

Other organizations that have been known to distribute similar white nationalist signage in the Baltimore area include the Traditional Worker Party, a conservative fringe group founded by a Towson graduate; Identity Evropa, a eugenicist “fraternity;” and American Renaissance, a monthly online “white supremacist” publication, as described by the Washington Post.