The new fliers included warnings to wear gloves while taking down or covering up Nazi propaganda, a statement that “Democrats will not save us,” and a quote taken from Folt’s email response commenting on the anti-fascist fliers placed under an image of a pig in a police hat.
First-year Georgia Cassidy said quoting Folt near a picture of a pig was wrong.
“I think it makes sense for a chancellor to say that shouldn’t be posted because it is promoting hurting people and violence,” Cassidy said. “But at the same time, people are just trying to strongly voice their opinions, so there is a reason for it, but probably not on a campus.”
Unlike Cassidy, senior Hollie Shelton thought the fliers were appropriate for a college campus. She said it is important for these issues to be visible.
“I think people should see that these opinions are out there and that people do feel this way,” Shelton said.
In a statement, University spokesperson Joanne Peters said Folt’s email response to the anti-fascist fliers last Thursday was in line with their prior approaches to these situations — creating a response that is appropriate for the event.
“To be clear, Chancellor Folt tries to treat all students with the same compassionate approach,” Peters said in the statement. “We always support free speech on this campus, even when we find those views objectionable. However, in the instance of the flyer, there was a threat of a specific form of violence to members of our community and it was our responsibility to make clear that we do not tolerate violence at Carolina.”
