Pepe speaks out over harassment on campus

Jenny Caulfield
Meme-in-Chief

Stereotyping of a student amphibian has led to a Hudson Valley student facing harassment on campus.

“The worst part was being hanged so much,” said Pepe on the attacks.

Pepe has experienced a variety of different personal attacks since he started at Hudson Valley in the fall.

“Students always come up to me assuming that I’m going to be racist, but that’s not who I really am,” he said.

Pepe caught wind of the new Memetics program in the fall with the hopes of furthering his education of his heritage at Hudson Valley.

“I think it’s important to know about who you are and where you’re from, and the program has a lot to teach me about my culture,” he said.

Since being on campus, Pepe has experienced forms of harassment verbally and physically. Pepe was hanged by a group of unidentified students and was left hanging for hours.

“It was hours until someone came looking for me to help me,” he said. “I couldn’t remember the last time I cried for so long in a dark room.”

Public Safety are now providing Pepe a police escort from class to class to ensure his safety on campus.

According to Pepe, the allegations of him being a white supremacist started during the presidential election.

“Secretary Hillary Clinton said I was a symbol associated with white supremacy while trying to attack Donald Trump,” said Pepe.

According to Hillary Clinton’s website, Pepe is deemed as being associated with nazi propaganda. Since she released these statements, Pepe has felt under attack by the general public.

“I can’t change what she said about me. I can only hope that people don’t think that what she said is true,” he said.

Despite the police escort on campus, Pepe still feels his reputation is soiled.

“If I have learned anything about America, it is that once you are accused of something, you are immediately guilty,” said Pepe. “There is no proof that I am a white supremacist, and I never have been