White Nationalists Ramp Up Campus Outreach As Students Return

Identity Evropa leader Nathan Damigo, at right, with fellow white nationalist Richard Spencer. Image by Getty Images

By Sam Kestenbaum September 11, 2017

The white nationalist group Identity Evropa may be ramping up its college campus outreach ahead of the school year.

The group, led by “alt-right” figure Nathan Damigo, targeted dozens of universities last year with pamphlets promoting their cause. Now, according to the Anti-Defamation League, Identity Evropa is gearing to target campuses “just as students arrive for the fall term.”

Identity Evropa is self-styled “identitarian” white nationalist group that has been particularly involved on campuses. Their materials urge whites to “protect their heritage” and “serve your people.” Identity Evropa is also believed to have popularized the popular white nationalist chant of “You will not replace us.”

“The message is explicitly racist and anti-Semitic,” the ADL said in a statement. “They know they’re going to get a reaction when they show up on campus.”

Identity Evropa was among other far-right groups that gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia for a rally that turned violent. In the wake of the rally, the group’s leader Damigo hosted a press conference with “alt-right” figure Richard Spencer. Both men view Jews as an existential threat to the white nation.

According to this white nationalist view, “the white race is doomed to extinction by an alleged ‘rising tide of color’ purportedly controlled and manipulated by Jews,” the ADL wrote.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.

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