'Illini White Student Union’ challenges 'Black Lives Matter'

Walbert Castillo | USA TODAY College

An anonymous Facebook page called Illini White Student Union, created after black students from the University of Illinois held a rally Wednesday, reportedly characterized the Black Lives Matter movement as an act of “terrorism” and called for the monitoring of African-American students who attended, leaving many feeling unsafe at the Urbana-Champaign campus.

“I expect some degree of backlash whenever black students … get together and demand their human rights,” said Karen Olowu, a member of Black Students for Revolution, which organized the rally. “I was surprised by the degree and the swiftness, and how toxic it was.”

The rally featured speakers, poets and hip-hop artists expressing solidarity with protesters at the University of Missouri.

The Facebook page read, “A new page for white students of University of Illinois students to be able to form a community and discuss our own issues as well as be able to organize against the terrorism we have been facing from Black Lives Matter activists on campus,” according to The Daily Illini.

Though taken down, another iteration — without that post — soon appeared.

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“Whoever wrote the page did not go to the rally because it was not a #BlackLivesMatter event. … But what they did see were over 100 black people together screaming revolution and talking about ending racial oppression,” said Augustus Wood, a PhD student and member of Black Students for Revolution.

University of Illinois’ Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson described the page as “extremely disturbing” in a statement to the student body.

“We recognize the right to free speech, and we encourage you to exercise that right when you see examples of racism, discrimination or intimidation on our campus,” Wilson said. “We must have a safe environment for everyone – where people can gather and express concerns without fear.”

Several minutes after Wilson wrote to members of the campus community, Jeff Christensen, chief of police at the University of Illinois Police Department, also wrote a statement. He said in part, “We know that incidents like this create a sense of fear and shake your confidence in the safety of our campus. Please know there are many resources on campus to ensure your safety and to address incidences of bias and discrimination.”

Black Students for Revolution were not satisfied with the administration response. A statement released on Friday and obtained by USA TODAY College says that “this “Illini White Student Union” has adopted the same racial terrorist tactics that groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens’ Council utilized to intimidate and kill black people during the Civil Rights Movement. However, the university positioned black student safety at the periphery as it has done many times before.”

Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler told USA TODAY College that the act of creating the page specifically designed to intimidate others is “disturbing and cowardly.

“We recognize that passions run deep on all sides of many issues, but actions like this are senseless and hurtful, and do nothing to foster meaningful dialogue.”

Though the initial page was taken down three hours after administration contacted Facebook, another page is up. Kaler said she has been working with Facebook to address the matter.

“It does make me pause now when I’m walking between classes that members of the student body at the university think like this,” Olowu says.

USA TODAY College attempted to reach out to the Illini White Student Union but received no response.

Walbert Castillo is a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student and former USA TODAY College correspondent.