A single anti-Semitic valentine attributed to a College Republicans group has been found to be the work of a non-student, Central Michigan University concluded on Friday.
A photo of the card, which read “My love 4 u burns like 6,000 Jews,” appeared on social media Wednesday after the Central Michigan University College Republicans held a Valentine’s Day party for their members. According to their president, one member who “doesn’t like candy” gave his bag from the gathering to a couple of students, not knowing the despicable valentine was inside.
The university announced that the CR chapter was not responsible for the card, after conducting a speedy inquiry.
“[T]he card was the misguided action of one individual, who readily admitted her role. The young woman is not a CMU student and has left [campus town] Mount Pleasant,” read a statement. The university confirmed that the individual was not enrolled at the time of the incident.
A report about the matter from the Washington Post published Thursday was interpreted as news that “College Republicans at Central Michigan University made anti-semitic valentines joking about burning 6,000[sic] Jews,” in the words of a New York University professor, which were shared widely. “Is it just me or has Trump’s election made anti-Semitism acceptable among Republicans?” was one prominent question, apropos the professor’s tweet. Others raised similar points.
Although the school found no fault with the College Republicans and determined that the culprit was not a student, CMU said it still plans to conduct a series of “next steps”, including “educational programming” on inclusiveness and respect. It named the CRs when announcing its civil rights office would propose to have “an educational session with the College Republicans and offer workshops, in partnership with Institutional Diversity staff, to other student organizations as well.”
