Last week, on the 12th of October, LSE students took part in protests strictly opposing racism and hate speech. The demonstration initiated on campus outside of the Student Union and continued up until the LSE Directorial Board.
Why did it happen?
The protest followed after the recent announcement by The London Tab that Peter Cytanovic, an individual who took part in a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville mid-2017, was enrolled at the LSE as a Master’s student.
As incited by a second-year undergraduate student who took part in the protest, “universities should be safe spaces” and they “would not be safe when someone who has incited violence based on racial hatred is walking around campus”.
Opinions
The protest was peaceful despite controversy. One student stated that the atmosphere was one based around “solidarity and hope”. A stark contrast to the violence induced by rallies like that in Charlottesville.
The protest ended with acknowledgements addressed towards the LSE Directorate to issue a statement to reject the beliefs of Cvjetanovic. They also reinstated their objection towards LSE’s application process in order to prevent the admissions of those who assert white nationalist and racist ideologies.
Responses
Recently through The London Tab, Cvjetanovic issued a statement in which he “deeply regrets attending the Charlottesville rally and the things [he] did and said at the time” and that he is “sorry for the hurt” induced.
