"It's okay to be white" posters were discovered Thursday at multiple locations on campus and immediately removed by University of Delaware Police.

The posters are the product of a trolling campaign created by users of 4chan, a popular Internet forum, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The saying was later spread by neo-Nazi groups and politically-organized racists, including former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.

"The campaign is designed to pit people on various points of the political spectrum against one another," UD said in a message sent to students. "The phrase was cunningly chosen to invoke an outcry at the suggestion of anti-white bias.

"But this is not what our UD community is about. We aspire to be a community that celebrates the identity of all and do not believe that by celebrating one identity we minimize the worth or value of another."

Many students on campus Thursday evening were not even aware of the posters, but said the message is not welcome, like freshman Sam Tracy.

"It doesn't belong here," she said. "It's upsetting to know that there are people here among us who think like that."

A group of three seniors said they had read UD's email, but think someone just wanted to spark anger on campus.

Frank Hulmes recalled the near annual anti-gay protesters, who sit in a fenced area patrolled by campus police.

"It's just a bunch of people trying to incite something," he said.

His friend, Cory Hahn, said the phrase, "It's okay to be white," was purposefully chosen.

"It's a mundane phrase — a non-sentence," Hahn said. "The phrase itself isn't bad but the motivation is."

Since 2016, the Anti-Defamation League has recorded 346 incidents of white supremacist propaganda – fliers, stickers, banners and posters – appearing on college and university campuses.

Those campaigns targeted 216 college campuses, from Ivy League schools to local community colleges, in 44 states including Delaware and the District of Columbia. Several of them used the phrase "It's okay to be white" in their fliers, according to ADL.

UDPD is investigating the incident and anyone with information about the posters should call 302-831-2222. Students may also contact the UD Helpline (302-831-1001) any time or the Center for Counseling and Student Development (302-831-2141) during regular office hours.

UD’s Journalism Program will host a conversation about hate speech with Jenny Lambe, a nationally known First Amendment scholar and an associate professor in UD's Department of Communication, at 5:30 p.m. at the Deer Park Tavern on Monday.

It was planned after the attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday and is free and open to the public.

Find out more at www.journalism.udel.edu/news/Pages/FPC-hate-speech.aspx.

KEEP READING

FBI: Reported hate crimes on the rise in Delaware

Justice Department investigating possible criminal abuse by Catholic priests in Delaware

Delaware's Jewish community in mourning after shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue

Delaware candidates spent $1.2M in the final weeks before election day

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.