DAVIS -- Flyers posted around the UC Davis campus on Nov. 4 read "IT'S OKAY TO BE WHITE."

The school took them down the next day when they were discovered, saying they were posted in restricted areas.

"I was really surprised that those were put up because it doesn’t seem like us," said Justin Prentice, a first year student.

The message, taken at face value, was hard to dispute.

"It does seem like it could be slightly negative," said first year student Zoe Fish O’Brien.

Students FOX40 spoke to said they were not sure if there was another meaning intended.

"It could have been one of two things. It could have been kinda harmless, trying to say, 'Oh, it’s okay to be white.'" But it could have been more heated as well, as, like, a backlash to Black Lives Matter, which would not be okay, in my opinion," Prentice said.

"If they were trying to promote a message of inclusiveness or community, I think that maybe they could have found a better way to, you know, show it or say it," said student Sienna Wuu.

The Washington Post reports similar flyers turned up across the country, including at Tulane University and Harvard Yard. The messages have prompted concern, in part because posting the message is linked to a white nationalist website.

On Thursday, UC Davis Chancellor Gary May spoke out about the flyers in a guest editorial in The California Aggie, saying in part, “The flyers attempted to subtly convey a message that white people are under attack in the United States.”

The flyers, which were taped to signs promoting diversity on campus, were an attempt to “goad” the UC Davis community, Chancellor May said.

“Yes, it’s okay to be white, or anything else at UC Davis," May told the UC Davis newspaper. "But it’s not okay to vandalize or intimidate.”