UTSA staff took down a white nationalist banner after they spotted it hanging from the University Center Bridge on the main campus early Wednesday morning.
The staff’s swift actions to take down the banner drew praise from San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg but sparked a debate in a campus class on Freedom of Speech rights.
On Monday, the University released a statement calling the banner an expression of hatred aimed at dividing the roadrunner community.
They said staff took down the banner because it violated school policy and advocated white nationalist views.
The banner promoted a website that included the words “Blood” and “Soil” a Nazi rally cry.
"I was honestly really shocked because on this campus it is a really diverse place," student
Rachel Pajarill said.
The extremist groups later posted on Twitter that activists hung two banners at UTSA, but the University says the second photos is not a location on their campus.
Nirenberg tweeted:
Hate is not welcome here. I stand with @UTSA and all San Antonio residents. Stand with us too. #CompassionateSA #SAunited
Students in a Texas Politics class say it was a hot button topic in class Monday morning as students weighed in on whether it was freedom of speech or hate speech.
"A majority of the class was voting for this is hate speech," Pajarill said.
Pajarill said she voted for freedom of speech, but does not believe in what the banner promotes and agrees with the university's decision to take it down.