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UCF White Student Union Sparks Controversy

Image:  UCF White Student Union Facebook page
Image: UCF White Student Union Facebook page

Recent student protests against racial injustice at the University of Missouri sparked similar movements on college campuses nationwide, and the University of Central Florida is no exception.

Two weeks ago, UCF’s Black Student Union held a sit-in to support the organization that spearheaded the Missouri protests. But a few days after that, someone created a Facebook page called “White Student Union at UCF,” claiming to see in Black Lives Matter protests “an explicit hostility to white students, faculty, and culture.”

In a lengthy statement to the press last week, the UCF White Student Union said: “We are not a racist or white supremacist organization… But we will not apologize for being white. We will not self-flagellate for the sins of our ancestors. We will not be emotionally blackmailed to go along with the displacement of white people and culture in the name of ‘diversity’ or ‘equality.’”

The statement claims the page was created by current UCF students and alumni. A UCF spokeswoman says the group is not a registered student organization. Similar Facebook pages have popped up connected with about 30 other colleges, leading many to deem them a hoax. Black Student Union president Courtney Powell says they didn't want to comment on the page at first because they weren’t sure it was real.

“What we did was not a derogatory movement toward other cultures,” she says. “It was out of love and support for fellow students at Mizzou…Our quest for love has been taken out of context.”