Towson Students Walk Out Of Class To Protest President-Elect Trump
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A student walkout occurred on the Towson University campus on Monday to speak out against hate in the wake of the presidential election.
The walkout was organized by the Social Justice Collective, according to The Towerlight.
"This is one of the most important moments for faculty, staff, and students to come together to stand against Trump's hatred, racism, bigotry, homophobia, Islamaphobia, and misogyny," an email from the Social Justice Collective said. "We do not stand for hate and we will not tolerate this on our campus, in our community, or in our country."
"We're just going to stand up for what we believe in and that's what we're doing today," said Towson student Megan Boyle.
The walkout comes on the heels of several disturbing incidents on campus.
A week before the election a video posted by Campus Reform allegedly shows a student attacking someone in a "Make America Great Again" hat. The student faces criminal charges.
The university is investigating an incident last week where two students were followed and repeatedly called a racial slur. The university president sent a letter to campus in response.
"We want everybody on our campus to feel welcome and accepted, so obviously anything from deviates from those values is something she is very concerned about," said Ray Feldman.
Things turned heated at Monday's event when a student tried to disrupt and was escorted away by campus police. Some say the divisive election isn't what sparked campus incidents.
"People are acting like this is some new manifestation where as though black people, queer (LGBTQ) people, Latino communities have been saying the same exact thing since the beginning," said student John Gillespie Jr.
They now hope people stand up against acts of hate or bias.
"If people are willing to organize then I believe in the change. But that's the only way," said Breya Johnson.
Last year the university revamped its policies on handling hate and bias incidents.
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