Early Monday morning, a number of fliers promoting an anti-immigration nationalist group were spotted and taken down around campus due to the lack of proper preparation.
The fliers belonged to Identity Evropa, an “identitarian” group with a platform of opposing immigration and multiculturalism as threats to European cultural heritage. This stance runs contrary to the University of Wyoming’s position of welcoming students of all backgrounds, but the fliers’ message itself was not the cause of their removal.
“I can certainly tell you they were taken down because the people who put them up didn’t follow the procedures to post things on billboards and that the university condemns the message of the organization that’s behind them,” Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing Chad Baldwin said.
ASUW President Ben Wetzel explained that the fliers were protected as free speech, but had not been cleared for posting on campus. In a similar situation in November, Holocaust-denial fliers were removed and the individual responsible was cited for littering.
“We’re a public institution, we can’t filter things based on content,” Wetzel said. “The biggest problem was they didn’t go through the proper channels. We don’t have anything in place under the guise of the law that lets us decide what content is shared on campus as long as there’s not any direct threat to anyone’s safety or security.”
Free speech covers a lot of ground, but the situation doesn’t end there.
“We’re working continuously on the policy side to move forward and handle all of these situations better when they arise—this isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last,” Wetzel said. “That’s just the beast of being on college campuses.”
Dr. Emily Monago, chief diversity officer, expressed her confidence in the welcoming environment of UW and in values that don’t need to be sheltered.
“I know that we have to continue to uphold and embrace the values of free speech, but there’s a balance—we have to uphold and embrace our values of inclusion as well,” Monago said. “I don’t see messages that are discriminatory, that are exclusionary, ever thriving on this campus—because it really doesn’t align with who we are as an institution or a campus community.”
Additionally, the presence of these views can create positive opportunities for dialogue and understanding when they are not censored.
“We can have a deeper conversation across differences and through those conversations find commonalities, ways of building bridges and building communities—and really think critically about the issues: how that impacts you as an individual, how does it align it with your values?” Monago said. “One of the visions I have for the university is that students who come to the University of Wyoming will be some of the most sought-after graduates in the country because they’re going to graduate with cultural competence.”
The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, is a fairly new institution on campus and intends to work with ASUW to ensure that positives responses and supporting resources are made available to students. Wetzel explained that these efforts are not limited to advocating for groups that could be considered “minorities or under-represented cultures.”
“If someone wanted to come out and, vice versa, put up posters that said we should annihilate the white population of the world, we would have the same response,” Wetzel said. “By no means is it directed as extra protection for one group, it’s working towards equity—where we work to support and include and have, not only protection but resources and the necessary means, equitable across the campus, for every single student to receive an education.”
The fliers and their messages coincide with events and activities held this week by the Wyoming African Students Association to promote awareness and understanding between cultures. These events lead up to the organization’s annual Cultural Show and Dinner on Saturday.
