University of Wisconsin-Platteville students showed their support for the victims of hate-based crimes at a student-led walk-out rally on Tuesday.
About 200 to 300 people gathered in front of a campus building to speak out against racism and show their support for the victims of the hate-based crimes that have been committed against UW-Platteville students, said UW-Platteville graduate student and a rally coordinator Lindsay Nieman.
The rally was an idea developed by several graduate classmates and came as a response to the incidents of racist graffiti on campus.
Nieman said the goal of the rally was to give students a voice and to encourage them to stand up against the incidents of racism.
“Make your voice be heard,” Nieman said. “We all have a conscience and know what is right from what is wrong. We need to speak up.”
She said the larger group broke down into smaller groups that discussed issues about how to deal with racism and spread their message around campus.
She said she was satisfied with the success of the event, but she would’ve liked to have seen a much larger group in attendance.
UW-Platteville Black Student Union Vice President Darryl Meek said he wished more students would have attended the rally as well. Meek was a victim of a hate crime when someone vandalized his home with racist graffiti earlier last month.
Meek said the lack of attendance is indicative of the presence of a larger group on campus that is not willing to stand up against racism.
He said the students that did attend the rally made a strong effort to tackle the issue.
“I believe the students in attendance did a great job of showing the faculty and administration that they will not stand for this,” Meek said.
UW-Platteville Chancellor Dennis J. Shields said he attended the rally and spoke to the crowd.
He said he could understand the frustration many students are feeling with the administration for not being able to identify the perpetrators, but the university will continue to work on the cases.
“I understand the impatience,” Shields said. “We are working to follow whatever leads come out.”
Somebody out there knows something about who has been committing these crimes and they need to come forward, Shields said.
