File under: who exactly decided this was okay? A member of Central Michigan University's College Republicans chapter allegedly handed out some pretty awful anti-semitic Valentine's Day cards to members during a Valentine's Day party - and obviously, students were not happy about it.
Refinery29 reports that a photo of the cards that were distributed was posted to Facebook by student Madison Rodriguez - and it immediately spread. The card reads, "my love 4 u burns like 6,000 jews," alongside a picture of Adolf Hitler. As Refinery29 notes, it's not only disturbing, but completely understates the amount of Jewish people killed during the Holocaust (which was 6 million, not 6,000).
The @CMUniversity I love doesn't tolerate hate speech. This is not what being a Chippewa stands for. #WhyIResistpic.twitter.com/uIIR4pVbYf
— Autumn Gairaud (@aegairaud) February 9, 2017
CMU's College Republicans president Mackenzie Flynn told the school's newspaper Central Michigan Life that the cards were handed out only to members present at the event. (Because that makes it so much better?) According to Flynn, a member of the organization gave away his bag, which is how someone outside of the organization saw the card.
According to the Washington Post, CMU issued a statement apologizing for the card, alleging that the person who distributed it was not a student.
"The grossly offensive action of one individual, a nonstudent, has deeply distressed our campus community and others across the nation," CMU's president George Ross said. "With heavy hearts and great embarrassment, we apologize. To those of Jewish descent, rest assured that we stand with you and vow to continue the effort to educate others."
CMU students also hosted an anti-hate speech rally Thursday in response. While it's great that the school and students are reacting swiftly to the issue, it's still disturbing that someone found humor in distributing the card in the first place, especially considering Holocaust Remembrance Day was only a few weeks ago.