Students and civil rights activists at San Diego State University are calling for President Elliot Hirshman's resignation over student safety concerns.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and other groups held a news conference Wednesday to outline why they want President Hirshman to step down.
Last week, students gathered on campus to protest after they claim administrators did not openly condemn hate speech posters. The posters allegedly named specific SDSU students as being terrorists.
Students swarmed a car carrying President Hirshman and demanded that he address their concerns.
Monday, students from SDSU's Justice in Palestine and Muslim Student Association met with Hirshman. They gave him two days to condemn the acts.
"It is the job of the President of any body of people to make sure that those people feel safe and secure but in this case Elliot Hirshman didn’t do that. Even after we gave him 48 hours to condemn the hate speech on those flyers, he didn’t do that, which is why he must go," said Reverend Shane Harris, President of National Action Network.
NBC 7 San Diego reached out to President Hirshman for a response Wednesday.
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Spokesperson Jill Esterbrooks says President Hirshman’s office is standing by a joint statement that was released on Monday to SDSU students, faculty and staff.
The statement in part, read, “We concluded by agreeing that in cases where racism, islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia and all forms of bigotry result, we abhor the content of such expressions, even as we recognize the protected status of these expressions."
