The rally, held April 18, was organized by SCAR (Student Coalition Against Racism). Students and faculty have accused the university of not retaining Stryker because she has supported Jewish faculty members in their complaints of anti-Semitism. Organizers of the rally are demanding that Stryker be retained at the university.
Members of SCAR have organized support for Stryker with buttons, literature, and petitions to the Minnesota state legislature. They see the struggle as a fight much broader than St. Cloud State. Damon Quade, a member of SCAR, stated, "We want Dr. Stryker to stay, but the big picture is that this is happening all the time." SCAR organized a protest last year in response to an insert in the campus newspaper. The insert, titled, "The Revisionist," was 24-pages and claimed the Holocaust was a hoax. The group also sponsored an event at the university for two Cuban youth leaders who were on a national speaking tour April 14.
Jenny Benton is a member of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers union.