President Thrasher responds to white supremacists in Charlottesville

In the email the Thrasher condemns hate speech and “clear display of racism”

This morning President Thrasher emailed the student body to condemn the white nationalists' actions in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend, as well as stand firm that FSU is a school that represents diversity and inclusion no matter race, nation of origin, religion, sexual preference, or gender identity.

Violence ensued when a "Unite the Right" march protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee clashed with counter protestors at the statue of Thomas Jefferson on the UVA campus on Saturday, in an incident that lead to James Fields smashing his car into the crowd and subsequently killing Heather Heyer.

Hate will not be tolerated

In this email, President Thrasher minces no words, clearly and directly condemning the actions of "white supremacists", and makes a hard stance that the same actions or speech will not be tolerated at Florida State University.

However, this email made no mention of the statue of Francis Eppes that lead to some controversy last year on campus, or it's removal. Eppes was a slave-owner and held night watches to catch runaway slaves in Tallahassee, and used his money to fund the university in annual endowments. The plaque next to his statue lists him as the founder of our school, this monument also begins the Legacy Walk, a path that shows the successes of Florida State throughout the last 150 years. Tallahassee has several other Confederate symbols and monuments throughout the city as well.

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