A Rutgers University labor rights organization is being blamed for spray-painted graffiti on a couple of buildings in the surrounding community.
The phrase “Fight 4 $15” was discovered on the Livingston Daycare and the Asian American Cultural Center and is linked to the group Rutgers United Students Against Sweatshops (RUSAS).
According to The Tab, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Felicia McGinty said the graffiti, as well as a banner hung on Brower Commons and unauthorized distribution of flyers, violate the university’s Student Organization General Guidelines.
In an email, McGinty noted the graffiti at the Asian American Cultural Center appears to be “retaliation” for the center not immediately endorsing the RUSAS. She added members of the AACC saw this as a “dog whistle, similar to what we’re seeing in today’s political landscape.”
The graffiti that defaced the building that houses the Asian American Cultural Center (AACC) and the Rutgers-Livingston Day Care Center is not only vandalism but is also a xenophobic act that attempts to divide our community and incite fear and anxiety among members of a marginalized community. I am also aware that your organization recently approached members of the Asian Student Council to endorse your group. This targeted act appears to be retaliation for not receiving the immediate endorsement desired. Moreover, it was received by members of this community as a dog whistle, similar to what we’re seeing in today’s political landscape.
Additionally, there were multiple violations of the university posting policy this weekend under the banner of “Fight4Fifteen” and actions that posed serious safety risks to the campus community– banner hung on Brower Commons with loose cinder blocks, and unauthorized flyers on tables. Not only do these acts violate university policy, but they also fly in the face of the “workers” for whom you purport to be concerned, by creating an additional workload and distracting from the true mission of the university.
RUSAS condemned the vandalism in a message on its Facebook page, but noted it’s “concerned that workers will now be forced to remove this graffiti.”
Currently, there is nothing about these incidents in the Rutgers student newspaper, The Daily Targum. The paper did not respond to a College Fix inquiry about it.
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