Officials at Central Michigan University are investigating an anti-Semitic Valentine’s Day card that was given to a pair of students by a member of a campus Republican group, which insists it was an unsanctioned mistake.
The card was in a bag that was handed to the students Wednesday by a member of the College Republicans at the Mount Pleasant, Michigan, university, which immediately apologized while distancing itself from the incident. The card, which the group called "very inappropriate," shows Adolf Hitler alongside the words "my love 4 u burns like 6,000 jews," according to Central Michigan Life, a student newspaper.
Kirsten Simmons, a spokeswoman for Central Michigan University, said campus leaders are "deeply disappointed" by the incident and are trying to determine how and why the card was handed out. Simmons said that "this type of hurtful language" is "not something that represents who we are as a campus and as a community."
In a statement, the College Republicans at Central Michigan University said they were not responsible for the anti-Semitic card.
"At tonight’s College Republican meeting, we had a Valentine’s Day party, in which each member decorated a bag and other members placed valentines inside of others’ bags," the statement reads. "Unfortunately, a very inappropriate card was placed into a bag without other members’ knowledge. A bag was then given away to students sitting in Anspach [Hall], once again without members’ knowledge of its contents. The College Republicans as an organization did not distribute this valentine. We in no way condone this type of rhetoric or anti-Semitism. We apologize for any offense, and want students to know that we do not tolerate this sort of behavior."
Central Michigan’s College Republicans president Mackenzie Flynn, told the campus newspaper that bags were supposed to be given to group members. Flynn said one of the members had printed out some Valentine’s Day memes – one of which referenced the Holocaust – and put them inside the bags.
One of those bags, however, was given to two students who are not in the club. An image of the card was apparently shared on social media, igniting outrage across the campus, according to Central Michigan Life. (School administrators are investigating whether the photo is legitimate.)
"While still not appropriate, I want to clear up that they did not create it themselves," Flynn, the Republican group’s president, told the student newspaper.
Central Michigan University reported an enrollment of about 19,000 students last fall. It’s unclear what percentage of the student population is Jewish.
Representatives of Hillel at Central Michigan University, a Jewish student organization, were not immediately available for comment.
Student activists from Central Michigan Action have scheduled an anti-hate speech rally for Thursday afternoon.
"Central Michigan Action is taking a stand and refusing to let this hate go unanswered," the organizers wrote on Facebook. "We will reaffirm that CMU is a welcoming place for all with a peaceful demonstration and rally. Some people will be talking about their experiences with hate speech."
Since Wednesday’s incident, people have expressed concerns under a Facebook photo of the card.
"Holocaust Remembrance day was only a couple weeks ago," one commenter wrote. "Not only is this in bad taste, but from a prominent political group on campus, I would expect they would have better judgement. Meme or not, this is over the line to distribute to someone."
Another wrote: "No matter what your political stance is (this is coming from a conservative), this is sick and unacceptable. I am disgusted at how a group that is supposed to be representing the same views I hold could say something so offensive and not see an issue with it. Absolutely ashamed."
"Hey I agree this is crude but don’t group all republicans together based on this stupid person," one person added. "This person obviously is on the far end of the spectrum. I don’t find this to be funny and I’m a republican. Thanks."
"Whether it’s offensive to you or not (which it should be but I guess that’s not the point), it was stupid," another wrote. "Plain and simple. They should realize their actions have consequences, and just because they didn’t "mean" for it to be offensive doesn’t make it cool."
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