Stickers for the white nationalist group "Identity Evropa" were found on campus by students Friday afternoon.
Stickers for Identify Evropa, which has been labeled a "white nationalist" group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were found on a bench at the West Campus bus stop and a metal bench near Keohane Quadrangle, according to photos sent to The Chronicle by senior Connor King. By 4:00 p.m. Friday, the stickers at those locations were gone. An additional photo—showing a sticker plastered to a wooden swinging bench—was sent by senior Mumbi Kanyogo, a member of The Chronicle's independent editorial board, who said that she heard that two had also been found near Perkins Library.
King said that he spotted the flyers around 2:45 p.m. Friday, and that he pulled three down on West Campus. The senior, who found one of the stickers on the metal bench at Keohane Quad, said the location of the flyer near residential space was concerning to him.
“It’s pretty upsetting," King said.
People's State of the University, an activist group that formed last semester, posted photos of the flyers on social media Friday afternoon, encouraging students to take photos of the stickers and take them down if they see any around campus.
According to the SPLC, Identify Evropa is one of the "alt-right's" recruiting mechanisms, aimed at pushing white, college-aged men towards white nationalism.
"Rather than denigrating people of color, the campus-based organization focuses on raising white racial consciousness, building community based on shared racial identity and intellectualizing white supremacist ideology," the SPLC website says.
On its Twitter account, the group frequently posts photos of their stickers around the country, and particularly on college campuses. From Nov. 21 to 23, the Twitter account showed photos labeled as being from the University of North Florida, University of Rochester, University of Montana, San Jose City College and De Anza Community College.
Friday evening, the group posted on their Twitter account with photos of the flyers.
Racially charged actions have occurred repeatedly on Duke's campus in recent months. Several weeks ago, a pumpkin with a swastika carved into it was found on East Campus, along with sheets of paper printed saying "It's okay to be white."
The flyers come just days after a swastika was painted over students' mural memorializing the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. In the wake of the swastika, President Vincent Price pledged that a security camera would be installed at the bridge, and increased levels of security would be maintained at the Freeman Center for Jewish Life and other parts of campus.
Earlier in the year, "n*****" was written in place of the word "black" on a sign for the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. In April, the phrase "n***** lover" was written on the apartment door of a 300 Swift resident during the night.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 10:30 p.m. Friday night to include that Identity Evropa had tweeted photos of the flyers at Duke.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
Bre Bradham contributed reporting.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.