When you see ugliness, turn it into art.
After posters for an alt-right white nationalist group appeared last week at Kutztown University, the campus is rallying against the message with events including counter-propaganda artwork — an idea that started with an extra-credit project to turn the fliers into origami.
“Don’t get mad, get creative,” said Vicki Meloney, a professor of communication design who is coordinating an effort to help other schools combat the supremacist message.
The fliers posted on the Berks County campus — like others appearing at colleges and universities around the country — are photographs of Greek statues with slogans such as “let’s become great again,” “protect your heritage” and “serve your people.”
They are part of an effort called Project Siege by an alt-right organization in California called Identity Evropa, an “American-based identitarian organization dedicated to promoting the interests of People of European Heritage,” according to the group’s Facebook page.
Kutztown University, PA. #ProjectSiege pic.twitter.com/ztGxswmFIA
— IDENTITY EVROPA (@IdentityEvropa) February 7, 2017
“A lot of students were really shocked, wondering how and when it happened,” electronic media professor Jen Suwak said. “It’s a pretty diverse campus.”
In a message to students last Wednesday, Kutztown President Kenneth S. Hawkson said that “all individuals have the right to free speech on our campus, (but) our university rejects all forms of racism, bigotry and discrimination.”
Poll: Do you agree with Kutztown’s response?
Meloney sent an email to her students — and posted on the Pantsuit Nation Facebook group — offering extra credit for anyone who took the posters and turned them into origami. The response both from students and social media was enthusiastic, she said, but most of the posters had already been taken down.
So she took it a step further.
A “hate the hate” event planned Friday at Kutztown’s art building will offer artistic options should the posters or something similar appear on campus again, like turning them into shredded-paper flowers.
Supremacist group poster appears at Rutgers
Students will also be offered extra credit if they design posters to counter the Identity Evropa propaganda. The plan, Meloney said, is to make them available online for free so anyone can use them as a response to the white nationalist message.
“My colleagues and I were trying to see this as a teachable moment,” Meloney said.
In addition, a solidarity march is planned for Thursday in response to the alt-right recruitment posters, organized by students, faculty and residents in the Facebook group Kutztown Resist.
This may not be the last time the white nationalist posters are seen in Kutztown. Identity Evropa — in response to a tweet urging “any decent human being on Kutztown’s campus” to throw out their fliers — promised that it will continue to spread its message, saying “we’re not going anywhere.”
You can throw away our flyers, but we’ll be back with more.
We won’t be silenced or censored. We’re not going anywhere. #ProjectSiege https://t.co/yZJXweuhHV
— IDENTITY EVROPA (@IdentityEvropa) February 10, 2017
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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