UPDATE: A disclaimer now follows the information on the groups home page explaining "(Note: this is not sponsored by Auburn University)" University trade marks including the use of "WAR EAGLE" have also been removed from the site.
AUBURN, AL (EETV) - Auburn students and Alumni have been sounding off on social media after images surfaced online of flyers advertising an Auburn White Student Union.
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"the first thought was, "Is this real? Is this really what the environment at Auburn is like now?", says Auburn Alum Austin Zinkle, "As a graduate, I love my university and I hate to see despicable things like this hurt the image of something like I believe detests these sorts of things."
Zinkle also believes this reinforces stereotypes about the south, "There are enough stereotypes about Alabama and the South in general. It is never good when something like this allows them to be reinforced."
According to Eagle Eye's search of the Auburn involvement website this organization is not sanctioned by the university.
In a statement on Twitter, Auburn has repeatedly told students “This group isn't an Auburn student org & we find the views expressed in their materials reprehensible & unrepresentative of the university.”
@JusCallMeLani This group isn't an Auburn student org & we find the views expressed in their materials reprehensible & unrepresentative of the university.
— Auburn University (@AuburnU) April 11, 2017
The Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement, "We don't want to give the impression that this is an actual group or a real thing. We would want to encourage the University to go further and condemn the whole notion of a separatist white student union that supports white nationalist ideals."
Zinkle says even though he knows the university can not ban free speech, he wishes there were something they could do, 'The reality is that free speech is free speech, even the crappy hate speech that I utterly disagree with. So it gets messy when it looks like a university, which is supposed to represent free thought, is possibly banning idea (again, even really really evil ideas)."
The front page of the flyers creates an acronym for “War Eagle” saying it means “Whites of the Alt-Right Educating Auburn Gentiles for Liberation and Empowerment”
The group says on their website that “membership will be extended to people of White ancestry and good character” The organization says that full membership is the only way they “granted access to to the inner sanctum of the organization”
On their website the group says “while we forbid all illegal and criminal activity, anonymity is important if an anti-White employer would fire you for advocating for your race.”
While advertised as a “White Student Union” their website indicates some other nationalities will be allowed, “Applicants with small amounts of non-White ancestry will be considered on a case-by-case basis. In general, Northeast Asian, Igbo-Nigerian, and upper-caste (Brahmin) Indian ancestry are thought to be the most amenable given their evolved high IQs; also, some populations (like Iranians, Phonecian-Syrian Christians, and even Turkish descendants of Jannissaries) may have significant White DNA, so their upper classes will likely be accepted.”
"I'm aware that groups and ideologies like this exist, but it was just strange to think it was so serious, and possibly connected to the auburn community." says Zinkle.
