Hundreds of students turn out to protest racist notes left on St. Olaf campus

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After a note containing hate speech was left on a student's car, hundreds of students at St. Olaf turned out to protest the administration on Saturday and Sunday, calling for a boycott of classes until those in charge took action. 

Throughout the weekend, speeches streamed over Facebook Live, student radio and Twitter pleaded to the St. Olaf administration.

One student emailed Fox 9 with a summary of student statements from the evening:

  1. This problem has existed forever, and has gone on too long with nothing real being done about it. Students of color are not being given the opportunity to feel like real people.
  2. The administration has not shown us that it cares. Not that it truly cares. Only that it is trying to do as little as it can to appease us.
  3. Multiple hate crimes have happened here in the past week, and even more in the past few months. These are illegal instances. Doing these things are illegal for a reason.

The administration has released an official statement, stating:

The repeated violations of our values by people who have sent hateful and threatening messages to members of our community are simply unacceptable. We are doing everything we can to catch the people involved in perpetrating these hate-filled acts. An active investigation is under way, and there are several leads that we are following up on using every tool we have at our disposal. We have also notified the Northfield Police Department and have a protocol in place to ensure their full cooperation.

Someone, somewhere knows who is perpetrating these acts of racism. We are asking for the St. Olaf community’s assistance in identifying the individuals involved. If you are aware of any information that could assist in identifying anyone responsible for perpetrating these or other offenses, please immediately contact the St. Olaf 24-Hour Public Safety Dispatch at 507-786-3666. Be sure to maintain an accurate record of the timeframe for when events may have occurred, any photographs or other records, and information about any individuals you observed in the vicinity.

We appreciate the members of our campus community who are advocating for meaningful action in response. We are supporting their efforts and, most importantly, listening to their insight and concerns.