Anti-Nazi Sign Not 'Inclusive, University Says, Student Asked To Take It Down

A University of Massachusetts-Amherst student was told to take down an anti-Nazi sign from her dormitory window, by the administration of the institution.

Nicole Parsons, who is a junior at the university, told Buzzfeed News Sunday that she had put up the sign, which read “F--- Nazis. You are not welcome here,” after she found a swastika drawn over a "Happy Hanukkah" sign on a resident assistant's door earlier this month.

"I thought maybe if I hang the sign up, maybe the person who drew the swastika will see it and see someone condemning their actions, even if the administration doesn’t do it," she said.

While Parsons was sure that her university will not take issue with her sign, she was surprised to receive an email from a resident director, a week after posting the sign on the window of her dorm room, which requested her to take it down. Even though the email acknowledged the fact that the sign was permitted under Freedom of Speech, it also asked Parsons to consider “the impact on the community that this sign has had.”

"While Residence Education cannot force you or your roommate to take the sign down, I am asking that you or your roommate take the sign down so that all students can be a part of an inclusive residential experience, as well as having a respectful environment to be a part of here, on our campus," Eddie Papazoni, a resident director at UMass Amherst, told Parsons in the email obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Parsons added that she was in “absolute shock” after being asked to remove the sign. "This email tells me the university cares more about the feelings of Nazis than the safety of their students,” she said.

She did take down the sign, as her roommate was concerned about the attention it was getting and will be moving off-campus – a decision that she had made before the controversy surrounding the sign.

"This makes me glad [the move is] happening," she said. "I’m definitely going to hang it in my bedroom. I'm going to keep the sign forever."

Following the incident, the university posted the following clarification on their Facebook Page:

“A poorly worded email from Residence Life staff asking students to take down the sign does not reflect the values of the campus, and it should not have been sent. UMass Amherst emphatically rejects Nazis, and any other hate group, a view expressed in the students’ sign. However, we are sensitive to the use of profanity, which some could find inappropriate. The university respects the students’ right to display the sign and it may remain up.”

The University of Massachusetts is known for promoting a "Hate Has No Home at UMass," a program aimed at rejecting “all forms of bigotry and hatred."