The American Indian Student Union at the University of Virginia has upset some conservative students on campus with an "Anti-Thanksgiving" event.
The student group planned and advertised the "Anti-Thanksgiving" event as a potluck where students would "share free food." They also recently held a screening of "The Only Good Indian," a film about a Native American boy forced to assimilate into white culture.
AISU is celebrating Native Heritage Month throughout November. The group's president, Katelyn Krause, told NBC 29 the event was "basically a get-together over food to discuss a native's perspective on Thanksgiving, the history behind it, what role Native Americans played in Thanksgiving [and] contrast that with the typical American view of Thanksgiving."
But according to fellow student Nicole Bailey, executive-in-chief of a conservative campus newspaper, The Virginia Advocate, it was just "a way to raise awareness about the less glamorous parts of America’s history."
Conservative bloggers have latched onto the "Anti-Thanksgiving" event, shrieking with outrage at what they see as "liberal activism."
"The life of the modern liberal consists of one imagined war after another," wrote Nathan Harden at the National Review Online. "Never is there an end to grievance."
However, the event doesn't seem to have stirred much reaction on campus. Another campus newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, didn't cover the "Anti-Thanksgiving." And other than the local NBC affiliate, no other area media outlets seemed to be interested in the event.
"Our students are engaged in issues and they explore a lot of different ideas and we support that," Marian Anderfursen, director of media relations for UVA, told the conservative blog Campus Reform.