More than 100 people signed petitions urging elected student leaders and campus administrators to take steps against hate speech as part of the demonstration on Library Walk that lasted the course of the day on Jan. 22. It was organized to coincide with the distribution of The Koala.
Guardian
“”We¹re just here as student leaders, students especially concerned [with] stopping this recreational hate that¹s going on our campus,”” said Thurgood Marshall College senior Viet Tran, who helped plan the demonstration. “”We want to get the wheel going, to take a stance for something creative against this injustice. I think it¹s just a first step, raising the idea that we¹re against it and that we won¹t stand for it.””
Tran and several others set up a table with a paper shredder next to several distributors and urged passing students to shred their copies of the paper. The table also included newspapers Golden Triangle News and San Diego Downtown News, which the organizers said publishers donated as “”alternative reading material.””
Originally scheduled for the previous day, student organizers postponed the event after learning that The Koala would come out a day late. The purpose of the rally was not to exclusively target the The Koala, according to Thurgood Marshall College Student Council Chair Travis Silva, who helped coordinate the demonstration.
Guardian
“”Our forum was really intended to target hate speech. It was not to target The Koala,”” said Silva, who framed the publication as especially symbolic. “”The only institutionalized form of hate speech is The Koala, though that¹s not to say it¹s not the only type of hate speech.””
The 12-page edition of The Koala included a swastika symbol on the front cover.
“”The swastikas were enough for me,”” said Earl Warren College freshman Dominique Martinez, who put her copy through the shredder and signed the petition. “”[I shredded it] because of the Nazi symbols [and] because I¹m against that. I¹m Hispanic and I¹m very proud of it. I don¹t find interest in any discrimination whatsoever.””
Other students chose not to support the rally.
“”I¹m against shredding The Koala. It¹s too much like book burning,”” said Thurgood Marshall College senior Chris Etow, who said he understood why some found the newspaper offensive. “”I think [it] is a funny publication. They are constructive by testing the limits.””
Handing out The Koala just feet away from the protesters¹ table, John Muir College senior Mike Nitzani said he was not bothered by the demonstration or the destruction of the paper.
“”I think itas unintentionally funny. We even put jokes in The Koala about shredding it,”” he said, adding that only a few of the 800 copies he handed out ended up in pieces. “”They’re having people come up one by one, so obviously they’re not having much of an impact.””
After receiving permission from organizers, Nitzani put a nearby copy of the California Review through the shredder.
Nitzani claimed Thurgood Marshall College administration had provided logistical assistance for the anti-hate protesters.
Silva said that neither the Thurgood Marshall Student Council nor the college administration officially sanctioned or supported the event.
Ashanti Houston Hands, Thurgood Marshall College dean of student affairs, also denied the charge.
“”As the dean, if there were questions and concerns about how to make sure the event was consistent with policies, I was able to answer them,”” she said. “”However, at the end, the event was completely student-run and organized.””
Students who coordinated the rally said that they hope to consolidate the support for their cause into a new student organization committed to opposing hate speech.
“”We’re trying to strive for a hate-free campus,”” Thurgood Marshall College freshman and event organizer Kalli Catcott said. “”I want to make my community more open.””
