NEW ORLEANS, La. (WWL-TV) – Elliot Wade is a junior at the University of Louisiana Lafayette and works for the student newspaper The Vermillion.

Around March, his staff got word of signs being posted around his school.

“We were alerted to some White Supremacist flyers that went up around campus. A little bit after that, there was another separate group that was posting flyers, not actually on UL’s campus, but in places that students would frequent,” Wade said.

Seeing them for himself, he says gave him chills.

“It’s highly frustrating. It’s devastating. It’s painful and traumatizing. You know, my dad grew up in New Orleans in the 50’s. He has told me personally about experiences where he had to sit in the back of the bus with my grandmother. Things like this just haven’t gone away,” Wade said.

It’s not just UL Lafayette, according to the Anti-Defamation League, this is a growing trend. According to a new report, between September 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018, there has been an almost 80% uptick in flyers appearing on college campuses. Almost 300 incidents across the country and around 450 over the past 2 years.

Aaron Ahlquist is the ADL’s regional director.

“If you look at Sept. 1, 2017, it’s a month after Charlottesville, and all of a sudden, you have these groups feeling really emboldened. They see an angry society. They see frustration,” Ahlquist said.

Ahlquist says in many of these cases, Universities have taken swift action.

“When we learn of a flyer incident, and communicate with administrators and with law enforcement on campus, they almost without fail take exactly the appropriate steps and are very concerned about this image being portrayed about their school,” Ahlquist said.

Wade says University Police told their paper they don’t view the flyers as a hate crime based on the words. Wade only hopes that by speaking out, more people would be aware of what’s happening.

“I think that things are changing and improving as always. But, I think people are naive to believe that racism is gone,” Wade said.

WWL-TV reached out to the University of Louisiana Lafayette campus police, but have not heard back at this time.

The Anti-Defamation League says in addition to on-campus activity, White Supremacist groups have also stepped up their messages in other places. They’ve recorded 185 non-campus distributions since January, an average of more than one incident every day so far this year.

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