ATLANTA (WXIA) - A Georgia college student's new club has some on campus asking questions. Over the summer flyers advertising a newly formed White Student Union were posted on the campus of Georgia State University.
Organizer Patrick Sharp said he started the group after he noticed other student clubs devoted to various racial and ethic interests. Soon after he formed the union, protest flyers appeared on campus that equated his club with Nazis and white supremacists.
"To say this is some closeted or curtained white supremacy, it's pretty, and I'll go ahead and turn their words around on them, it's pretty ignorant and close-minded," Sharp said. "It's a pride organization. It's a cultural organization. What we have is not hate for any other group."
Sharp said six other students have joined the group. Still other students have expressed their concerns.
"It's just the name, I think really, to be honest," Georgia State senior Stephanie-Joy Rhoden said. "That might make you go to that place in your head where you're, like, whoa, wait a minute, what's that about."
GSU Vice President for Student Affairs Douglass Covey said the White Student Union has every right to exist as an informal student club. University officials added the White Student Union, like all student clubs that seek school recognition, must meet the standards of the institutional mission and non-discrimination.
