Messages left on liberal arts college whiteboards with the words “Make America Great Again” were deemed to be a racially motivated attack by the college’s “Bias Response Group.”
The slogans were written on whiteboards belonging to two female faculty members, one of whom The College Fix reports had “immigrant parentage.”
In an end of year report undertaken by the school’s Bias Response Group, the slogans are described as “racialized, targeted attacks” from a political campaign “of a candidate widely known to voice anti‐immigrant and bigoted views.”
The report continues, “These seemingly connected reports suggest a pattern of using the idea of political speech to target specific members of the Skidmore community with biased messaging.”
“As such, the BRG does not interpret these messages as political speech but as racialized, targeted attacks. BRG has asked Campus Safety to document all similar messaging while patrolling Campus,” the report states.
On the Skidmore website, there is an entire section dedicated to tackling bias incidents, which includes response protocol, a response flow chart, annual reports and a range of resources for students to learn more about bias incidents.
It defines bias incidents as “an act of bigotry, harassment, or intimidation involving a member of the Skidmore community that a reasonable person would conclude is directed at a member or group based on race, color, ethnicity, nationality, economic background, age, physical and mental health or ability, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status, or religious practice.”
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