Chancellor Gary S. May issued the following statement today (Oct. 25):

Someone using the presumed pseudonym of “John Smith” has targeted faculty and students in our ethnic studies programs with an email message repeating the message, “It’s okay to be white.” Since the first round of emails, there have been copycat emails sent containing the same message.

The police have been notified, and they are investigating. At least one of the people sending these emails is from out of state. 

Whoever is out there thinking this is a smart or fun thing to do needs to move on. You’re not smart or funny. Your act is tiresome.

As I said in 2017, when fliers with this same message were found across campus here and at other universities across the country, of course, it’s okay to be white, or brown, or black, or gay, or straight, or rich, or poor, or Muslim, or Jewish, or Catholic, or Protestant or disabled. All are welcome at UC Davis.

Let’s not be goaded or intimidated by this nonsense. The person or persons behind this are trying to divide us. They want to provoke a reaction and portray it as evidence of growing anti-white discrimination on college campuses.

UC Davis has been and should continue to be a forum for wide-open dialogue on an unlimited range of ideas, including those that many find disturbing. Anonymous emails, however, are not dialogue. Support for social diversity and equity is not a put-down. This is not a zero-sum game. All can be valued. All can be supported. All can be successful.

White supremacy, hate and intimidation have no place here. We’re not going anywhere.