This letter reflects the opinions of prospective student’s parent Nancy Buffum. Letters to the editor do not reflect the viewpoints or editorial coverage of Mustang News.
I am writing to let you know that I will not permit my daughter to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo because it seems to be positioning itself as the white supremacist California State University (CSU) campus.
My daughter has been admitted to Cal Poly in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Cal Poly is one of her top three choices. We visited April 13. We were very impressed with the department and the campus.
My daughter and I were very pleased to meet some of the students taking part in a demonstration organized by students of color and their allies, who were protesting recent racist incidents at Cal Poly. Even though Cal Poly has a very small number of students of color and a conservative reputation, we could see the minority students have a strong supportive culture, because this was a large, peaceful and courageous demonstration in the face of racist hostility and weak response by the administration.
However, racist incidents on campus appear to be ongoing, and I now see that Cal Poly has once again allowed Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the university. The message that I receive from this is very clear: the administration is aligned with students who want Cal Poly to be known as the CSU that welcomes white supremacists and condones their behavior.
I repeat, I will not permit my daughter to attend such a school. I call for the resignation of the president of the university and the disbanding of racist organizations on campus, including fraternities and student clubs.
With deep sympathy to the students of color and their allies who are currently Cal Poly, I feel that the best thing I can do to support them is to tell the administration as well as the students that I stand in solidarity with those who call for the resignation of the president.
There is no place in California higher education for a school that continues to permit behavior and speech promoting white supremacy, misogyny and hate-mongering.
*This letter has been edited for clarity.