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A poster meant to incite hate on the University of Alberta campus may have succeeded in doing the opposite Tuesday.

The university’s student centre building was packed with people of all backgrounds for a student-organized turban tying.

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The event, called “Turban, Eh!” was the brainchild of Arundeep Singh Sandhu, an Edmonton businessman who was moved to take the high road in the face of intolerance.

“I saw the reaction to the online posting and it was really negative and I thought this isn’t going to be a really good outcome for anybody,” said Sandhu.

He was referring to a poster depicting a Sikh man in a turban along with derogatory and xenophobic language put up around the university campus in mid-September.

Sandhu said it presented the perfect chance to show what the word “Sikh” actually means — in short, student or learner.

Photo by Shaughn Butts / Edmonton Journal

“It was a great opportunity to teach people and help them learn,” he said.