Gettysburg College postponed an event for people who are “tired of white cis men” amid widespread backlash.
The event was originally scheduled for Nov. 12, according to fliers of the event posted online. It would have been hosted by the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center as part of a senior Peace and Justice project.
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Attendees were encouraged to “Come paint & write about” their frustrations with white “comfortable in skin” men. Pictures of the fliers quickly went viral on social media, however, with many accusing the college of harboring racism. The event did not go forward, Fox News reported.
CONSERVATIVE STUDENT GROUP’S FLYERS DEFACED AND TAKEN DOWN AT GETTYSBURG COLLEGE
In a statement sent to the Washington Examiner, a spokeswoman for Gettysburg College said the project was not endorsed by the school.
“The flyer was made for a student project and was never endorsed by the College or by Peace and Justice Studies. The faculty leaders of Peace and Justice Studies have asked the student to reflect on their objectives and restructure their project accordingly. The event is no longer taking place as scheduled or initially constructed and the flyers have been removed. The faculty advisors have also directed the student to our Freedom of Expression Philosophy and the guidelines for posting flyers advertising events on campus,” the statement said.
“In any community of our size, there will be a wide range of views,” it added. “That creates a productive educational environment, but it also means that there will be occasions where views expressed are controversial or inconsistent with the values of the community. That is inherent in the freedom we give our students to find themselves and express themselves.”
Many students expressed their frustrations with the event.
“The school does not have an accurate grasp of how students truly feel about the college,” one student said. “Most are angered and discouraged that the school is improving not just from this event but many other events that have occurred before this.”
“As a White, cis male, the fact that basically people are being allowed to discriminate based on sexuality and race is not something that was ever in Gettysburg that was taught to me,” a Gettysburg alumnus said. “Even as a conservative, the one thing Gettysburg used to always strive for was diversity, equity, and inclusion, but in a good way that you could have conservatives, you could have liberals, you could have actual conversations. You could have that academic back-and-forth as a liberal arts college.”
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He added that Gettysburg “thought they were going to get away with it” until “it got shared on to an Instagram thing with 2 million people,” saying the event was only postponed due to fear of financial consequences from donors.
The organizers of the event did not respond when reached for comment.
