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White Nationalist Posters Found At U. of C. 10 Times In Two Weeks

By Sam Cholke | February 8, 2017 6:33pm
 At least 10 posters from white supremacist group Identity Evropa have been found on the University of Chicago campus in the last two weeks, including these two outside of Cobb Hall.
At least 10 posters from white supremacist group Identity Evropa have been found on the University of Chicago campus in the last two weeks, including these two outside of Cobb Hall.
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Provided by Graduate Students United

HYDE PARK — At least 10 posters from a white nationalist group have been found posted around the University of Chicago campus in less than two weeks.

Graduate Students United, the group representing unionizing graduate students on campus, reported it has found at least 10 posters from the group Identity Evropa posted in at least seven locations on or near campus since Jan. 27.

The posters all depict a black-and-white photo of a neo-classical sculpture with slogans such as “Serve Your People,” “Our Future Belongs To Us” and “Let’s Become Great Again.”

Identity Evropa, which claimed responsibility for the posters on Twitter, is a part of the alt-right movement and advocates white supremacy. It has recently protested against immigrants in San Francisco, among other places.

Amanda Shubert of Graduate Students United said the group has found the posters at the Regenstein Library, in and around Cobb Hall, near the corner Woodlawn Avenue and 56th Street and several other locations.

She said the posters have been found multiple times at the library and at Cobb Hall.

Identity Evropa also posted pictures on Twitter of the posters posted on the main quadrangle on Monday.

The posters appear to be a part of a larger campaign by the group to put up posters on college campuses around the country. It has this week claimed responsibility for similar posters on 11 campuses, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Indiana University and others.

The group was shut down in the Loop in July when people tore down similar posters quickly after they were hung.

Identity Evropa was founded in March by Nathan Damigo, a veteran living in California and who has deep ties to white supremacist groups.

Damigo told the New York Times in December that his group was a white nationalist “fraternity.”

The group also appears to have ties to alt-right founder Richard Spencer, who narrated a video for the group, and who is more popularly known for getting punched in the face during a television interview.

The University of Chicago administration did not immediately respond to questions about the posters.

Posters from another neo-Nazi group were found on campus in December.

Graduate Students United said it has been tracking the appearance of the posters and taken them down when found.

Organizers asked anyone else who sees one of posters to document when and where they found and take a picture of it before taking it down and send the information to the group at gsu@riseup.net. Graduate Students United is also encouraging people to inform the university of any posters found.

It's unclear whether the university was specifically targeted. U. of C. has a reputation for being one of the first universities in the country to admit Jewish and African American students and hire Jewish and African American faculty. The university was also the first leading university in the country to have a Jewish president.