The offensive posting appeared on a banner for the Vietnamese Student Union on Tuesday. The message was hung on a bulletin board on the fourth floor of Kerckhoff Hall. The language is too graphic for us to repeat, but it was a clear attack against Asian women.
"When I woke up on Tuesday, the last thing I expected was to have racist and sexist slurs continuously thrown at my organization, my community, and at my face, and at UCLA of all places," said Uyen Hoang, VSU's external vice president.
Around 200 students held a rally Thursday, calling for social justice on campus. Students have been putting up messages of support and rallying other students, even at other campuses, to take action.
"UCLA is considered home, figuratively and literally by so many people. But how can this be our home, a place of residence and refuge, if we cannot feel safe here?"said senior Anees Hasnain, who was one of the first people to see the posted message.
Campus police are now investigating, but Hasnain hopes the administration will take the incident seriously.
"They need to step up. They need to realize that this is an issue," said Hasnain.
Perhaps the presence of university administrators at the rally suggests they are aware of student concerns.
"We want to try as best as we can to get to the bottom of this," said Janina Montero, vice chancellor for student affairs. "Every single instance, where you feel that you are not in a place that supports you, is of concern to all of us, because this is a place for you. This is your home, and you need to feel welcomed and fully present in your home."
