White nationalist flyers removed from university campus
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Two days before white supremacists gather for a conference an hour to the west, flyers advocating one white nationalist group were removed from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville after they were found in violation of campus policy.
“The most precious possession you have in the world is your own people,” the flyers read. They include the cog and pitchfork symbol associated with the Traditionalist Worker Party, a white nationalist group.
The flyers were posted in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building and were removed Thursday because they were found to be in violation of the campus’ literature distribution policy, university spokeswoman Karen Simsen said.
The policy requires any posted literature to be affiliated with a student organization or on-campus department. It does not say anything about hate speech or restricting the types of messages that can be distributed or posted.
The flyers were removed because no one from the university appeared to have posted them and no affiliation was included in the material, Simsen said in email.
“I can’t speculate on the ‘what ifs,’ but we have a process for evaluating materials (that are compliant with our literature distribution policy) while ensuring that we uphold the First Amendment,” Simsen said in response to a question about whether hate speech propaganda would be allowed to be distributed if it met the affiliation requirements.
The incident comes as the role of free speech on college campuses is being debated nationwide, and as universities are grappling with a rise in hate speech incidents.
The issue came to the forefront following a deadly protest Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, Va., where hundreds of white supremacists gathered that day and the night before near the University of Virginia campus to protest the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.