Photo Credits: ATU Young Democrats and College Democrats of Arkansas
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders visited the Arkansas Tech University Russellville campus on Sept. 15 as part of her “Capital for a Day” program. Sanders and her administration held a “meet and greet” in the Bibler Conference Center, toured the ATU Career Center, and visited the off-campus farm. However, her visit did not go over well with some students.
Instagram was the first platform students began using to dissuade people from attending. ATU Young Democrats and College Democrats of Arkansas collaborated on an Instagram post that earned 71 likes, writing, “Get the Huck Out.” The post included the date, time, and location of the event, and also read, “Our campus. Our future. Arkansas Tech students demand better for Arkansas.”
On the flip side, the ATU College Republicans utilized this event to create their first Instagram account to post a thank you to the governor and her administration for their visit, which earned six likes.
Shortly after the announcement, popular anonymous platform, YikYak, was flooded with posts expressing distaste for the event. The most popular post accumulated 275 upvotes and read “Suckabee GO AWAY.”
Students rallied together, claiming they had no idea about the Sanders visit. Another popular post earned 167 upvotes and said, “So everyone was told Sarah Huckabee Sanders would be here except Tech students… thanks for the heads up.” Another user replied, “It’s because they know we would say some sh*t if we had time to prepare.”
One student said, “The last thing I want when I go into the ferg soaked in sweat and just wanting to get lunch is to see suckabee’s posse standing around in suits like this is a business meeting and not a campus invasion.” This post got 36 upvotes.
Another user was caught off guard by the intrusion at the Ferguson Student Union. Their post received 96 upvotes and read “Old heads in line to meet f*ckabee at the Ferg this might be the worst day yet.”
The official Arkansas Tech University Instagram account posted a non-detailed announcement about the visit. The post was up for less than two hours before the page temporarily turned their comments off.
A couple days later, students are still continuing their discussion on YikYak and wanting more from ATU.
