Family and human development graduate student Flora Farago (left) and justice studies graduate student Pieter Turley pose for a portrait at Boulders on Broadway on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 in Tempe. Farago, a student representative on the Tempe campus' Committee for Campus Inclusion, and Turley, vice president of Local to Global Justice, attended a community dialog at the restaurant Sunday evening to discuss ways of addressing ASU's response to white nationalist groups on campus. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)ASU students, employees and Tempe residents gathered Sunday to discuss how to encourage the University to take action against groups like the National Youth Front on campus.
The meeting was called after many community members expressed concern over harassment ASU professor Lee Bebout, who teaches the Problem of Whiteness course, and other faculty members received from the National Youth Front, which is a self-described “elite youth organization dedicated to the preservation of America."
“(ASU) should be embarrassed that they haven’t made a statement,” said an ASU employee who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
Those present maintained that the lack of response was a public relations move by ASU, who retain the belief that ASU administrators do not want to offend University donors.
“ASU has been incredibly f ------ silent. What can we do to get ASU… to support their faculty and get (these organizations) off campus? Is this the New American University?" said a sustainability senior and resident of the Maple-Ash-Farmer-Wilson neighborhood, who also wished to remain anonymous.
In a previous interview with The State Press, National Youth Front leader Angelo John Gage said the fliers they put out regarding Bebout and the Problem of Whiteness course expressed their opinions on the situation.“No one ‘attacked’ the professor,” Gage said in an email. “All we did was simply show everyone who he really was and how he supports a racist class that is called ‘The Problem with Whiteness.’”
The attendees decided to collect signatures of faculty, students and residents for a petition and hold a public display on the Tempe campus on March 3 at 11:30 a.m. at the corner of College Avenue and University Drive.
Photography senior Dustin Pace said he hoped these actions would show ASU officials the importance of eliminating acceptance of white supremacist groups at the University level.
“There need to be bodies, there need to be petitions," Pace said. "Whatever you can contribute, you need to do."
Representatives from ASU's Local to Global, a local grassroots organization, were also in attendance and extended an open invitation to its Racial Justice Forum.
The forum, which will take place on March 1 at 11:20 a.m. at the Education Lecture Hall in room 117 on the Tempe campus, will discuss the current racial climate at ASU. The club has invited ASU administrators and students and aims to create a discussion between the administration, those opposed to white supremacist groups on campus and students.
Pieter Turley, justice studies graduate student and vice president of Local to Global Justice, said even though these white supremacist organizations have a guaranteed right to free speech, he does not support speech that promotes violence.
"When they use that speech to promote violence against an individual or group of people in a public space or online, that should not be allowed," he said. "Who does this most affect? People of color. ... The presence of a neo-Nazi group makes this campus an unsafe place for people of color."
Turley said he believes students should take part in these protests and panels in order to combat oppressive groups on campus.
"If the University were to remain silent about neo-Nazis on campus, that really wouldn't reflect well on ASU's slogan of the New American University," he said. "To me, the New American University is ... inclusive and welcoming to people of color and people who have different points of view from the status quo."
Correction: Due to an editing error, the location of the forum was incorrect. It has been updated with the correct information.
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