According to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacists are targeting college students at an astounding rate. Between 2016 and 2017, white supremacist propaganda on college campuses increased by 258 percent, from 41 to 147. Of course, along with that jump came a certain orange skinned president, and the connection between this and the renewed resurgence for white supremacist groups cannot be underestimated.

There is a particular attraction from white supremacists on college and university campuses. The rise of white supremacist figures like Richard Spencer has been alternatively hastened and combated by these institutions of higher learning. Spencer, along with Eli Mosely, formerly associated with the white supremacist group Identity Evropa, say that they target colleges because they believe their social movement belongs to the young, and that they need to target colleges because they are “anti-white institutions.”

Colleges and universities toe the line between protecting free speech and protecting their students from hate speech, but in a political climate where a man who is boldly backed by the Klu Klux Klan not only can win the presidential nomination for his party, but go on to win the presidency, that line needs to be redrawn. In such a climate, colleges must refuse to allow white supremacists an open platform, which is usually laced with violence towards Black and other people of color.