After Donald Trump’s unlikely victory in the 2016 election, a student noticed a change among his peers. To him the campus seemed dead, and its student body appeared to experience the six stages of grief.
At 8 in the morning on Feb. 28, 2019, a student was sent hate messages threatening their life and the lives of several students on campus. The messages sent decried student activists and warned student organizers to “stay away from our president.”
Student leaders who helped open Thursday’s “Continuing the Campus Climate Conversation” event said the University is stuck in the century it was founded, that students should not be responsible for fixing the University’s diversity problems, and that we as a community must do better.
The La Verne Police Department and the FBI are continuing to investigate an apparent hate crime involving an online threat and arson that occurred on campus last Thursday and Friday, prompting the cancellation of classes.
In response to last week’s apparent hate crimes – a racist threat on social media directed at a specific group of students, followed by apparent arson in a student’s car – the University took actions this week by holding a ‘We Are One Vigil,’ and also canceling classes Thursday afternoon for a time of reflection, learning opportunities and community growth for students, faculty, staff and administrators.