OUC FACULTY TARGETEDIN HATEMAIL CAMPAIGN

By Le,1111oreCohen, The OU Phoenix

KELOWNA. B.C. (CUP) - As many as 30 faculty 11\Cll1bersal Okanagan University Colkge have re1.:eiveddeath threat:, in the mail in the pus111101tth.

!'he letter~. all copi1:s ol' n form lcW:r nddressed "Aun: Pureigm.:r," llm·aten u world-wide "racial holy war" unless all non-Europeans leave North A111crirn. The lett1:r sp1:cit'ies that the first vi1:1ims would be "mi:,guitlcd educators and their indoctri• nntcd progeny,"

The letters n11·ivedin plain ~11velopcswith a Kelowna return address. En1.:henvelope was addres:,ed 10 n college educator.

Ricardo Trumper. n sot.:iology profcssor whn rct.:eived tho.:hate letter, said that whilc the targeting of OUC professors was surprising. the lcller itsclr was not.

"This is stundurd fascist or nali l'arc. The only thing that's new is that we reccivc it at OUC at this particular historical moment," Trumper said,

Police arc investigating and sny they are treating the lcllers us a criminal act. Gordon Geary ol' the Kclowna RCMP's serious crimc unit is handling the case.

Geary said che lellers nppeur to be motivated by tin: evetll ul' Sept. 11.

The lellc::r n::ids: ''ITl11.:I9-11 tlllttl'k:, on my people have strengtheneci our resolve un :1 global scale."

The letter also :,uggests that people nf European decent arc now cnmpellec.J to rorcihly expel all rnen1bersof ethnic minorities from North America.

Trumper suid thcrc is u strung link between the hme campuign and the federal government's reaction to Sept. 11 because the let• ter is directed at foreigners and mut.:hof the immigration and new security measures ore ubo directed al outside citi£ens.

''To be u foreigner in this country right now and in the United States is to lrnvc different rights. The rnurn. in Canada have made that dis1i11t.:1i1,n.'!'he newly legislated Bill C-36. for instnnce. establishes that personal rights have to he weighed ngnin~l national ~ccuri1y.·•

Sociology professor Patrida Tomic, who also received the letter. agrees.

"II i~ disturbing; not just thc letter but the politics surrminc.ling it. To be deemed 'l'orcigncr· make~ you tremcnJom,ly vulncra• hie. But on the othe1 hand. it it. not surpris• ing because in these 1i111ennything is possible.

I

"Sept. 11 has completely re-shupccl the tliscoursc or whnt is acceptable nnd wllilt i:, not."

D11vid Lcthbridge, a psychology professor ut OUC's Salmon Arm Centre and an antiracist activist, believes the letters nre n purl of rt much wider effort, possibly c)rganized by American racist organization the National Alliance.

"I suspect that n local ngent received u copy of a silililar text over his or her e-m.iil. The text probably was intended lo be sent 10 non-while professors ttl universities local to local agents,'' Lethbridgc said.

''A National /\llinnce agent working in San f-rant.:ist.:u,for cxa111plc,would be expected w scnd thc letter to prnfessors in the Snn Francisco areu. The Kelowna agent probnbly took the letter and tailored it fur u Canadian milieu."

John Puplcy, president of OUC's foculty l\s~uciati1111.~aid the lctlcrs arc an a11ackcm the fundamemal prim:ipJc:., ol' places or higher lcurning.

"This is nn nuack on the cry idea or cnm• munity and on the very idea of the university with its commitment to tolerance, 10 integrity. tolerance and truth.

"We are tolerant people in a 1olernnt environment, but that doesn't mean that we will tolerate anything and everything. When individu;1ls or individual groups - racists - are aiming to use the benefits or our tol• erntion in order 10 destroy our tolerant soci• ety, then we must react."

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