Threats against minorities on college campuses have been frighteningly common this month, from the shooting threat directed at Black students at the University of Missouri to the swastika drawn on Maryland's Bowie State University's campus. But Virginia Tech, a college already associated with on-campus violence, has pulled its community together to stand strong against threats and hate speech.
"I will be here 11/11/2015 to kill all muslims," read a message found on the Virginia Tech campus in early November. In response, the college's president tweeted out support for his targeted students. He wrote, "Today's threat may prove to be a cruel prank, but it is an opportunity to stand with our Muslim friends & colleagues. #StrongTogether."
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Today's threat may prove to be a cruel prank, but it is an opportunity to stand with our Muslim friends & colleagues. #StrongTogether
— Timothy D Sands (@VTSandsman) November 6, 2015On November 8, the school's Muslim student association published a video to YouTube titled "VT Muslim Student Association: #HokiesDontHate." It features students explaining that they were "standing in solidarity" with their Muslim classmates and imploring everyone to resist hatred.
New threats continue to be directed at different college campuses: Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY, locked down on Friday in response to an online threat, and students at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, NY, and Washington D.C.'s Howard University spent Thursday on edge after anonymous promises of violence — but students aren't easily scared away from their efforts to build a more tolerant, accepting society.