The president of the University of Manitoba is “deeply disappointed and upset” about racist posters popping up on campus.
David Barnard said signs with the words “It’s okay to be white” were found this week on several school buildings.
“It’s not what we stand for as a university. I mean, the intention to create stress based on ethnicity or race seems to be anathema to what we’ve been doing,” said Barnard.
Barnard believes the posters are a coordinated attack—the sign has been found at other university campuses across Canada and the United States.
He says through surveillance, security found a disguised person plastering posters across campus Wednesday night.
Students and staff tried to take them all down and invited students to share concerns about hatred on campus, said student union president Jakob Sanderson.
“We’re trying everything we can to support them,” said Sanderson. “I think the most important thing is to provide a listening ear. If any student wants to come by and talk, we’ll listen to them.”
The university says it has opened an internal investigation.
