The Penn State College of Liberal Arts Twitter account deleted a tweet Sunday that said conservative viewpoints are welcome on campus after students expressed outrage.
The tweet said, “Dear students, each of you belongs here.” Included in the list was a sentence that said “Dear conservative students, your viewpoints are important.” (RELATED: Penn State And Wisconsin Will Open Up Campuses In The Fall)
The tweet was later deleted following backlash from liberal students.
Penn State deleted this tweet which affirmed that conservative students are welcome on campus after *checks notes* liberal students expressed outrage pic.twitter.com/KuCvJtoKfr
— Kara Zupkus (@kara_kirsten) July 11, 2020
“Conservatives in the United States do not live in a system that was built from the blood and trauma of their ancestors — a system that continues to put down people who look like [their ancestors] every day,” Penn State student Cassandra Nuñez told the Penn State Daily Collegian.
“Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Muslim and Jewish individuals have to deal with [an environment] where a student can scream the N-word at protestors and draw a swastika for a ‘cute’ sorority squat picture and there are no consequences,” she added. “To me, this just shows where Penn State’s priorities lie.”
Penn State’s director of strategic communications William Hessert said that the tweet was posted to show the college’s “inclusive and supportive environment,” according to the Daily Collegian.
“[Conservative students] are some of the students that call us the N-word and show us firsthand what white supremacy really is,” Penn State student Imani Murray said.
“The #WeAre chant used to be one that gave me pride and accomplishment when I said it, now it only brings shame and disdain,” Murray added. “I will no longer be saying it.”