“Dank New Rand Memes,” a private Facebook page with 10,645 members dedicated to Vanderbilt memes, changed its name to “Vandy Alumni For Palestine” on March 26 and is associated with the group Vanderbilt Alumni for Palestine. According to a post on the page written by an administrator under the name “Vandyalumni Forpalestine,” the name was changed to “mobilize a wider base.”
According to Facebook terms and policies for pages, groups and events, the name of a page, group or event cannot be changed “in a manner that significantly alters its existing purpose.”
The page was created in 2016 by Phillip Goldberg (B.S. ‘18). In a 2017 interview with The Hustler, Goldberg explained that DNRM aimed to “bring the Vanderbilt community together.”
“When I first started the group, I picked the funniest people I knew, and I said you find the funniest people you know, you put them in, you get them started on this. It brings the community together through memes and sharing ideas of different communities and bringing up different perspectives,” Goldberg said in the interview.
Goldberg did not respond to The Hustler’s request for comment.
VAFP explained in a statement to The Hustler that the group was changed to draw attention to “complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestine.” In the group, admin share links to an open letter to Vanderbilt administration and email templates for members to send directly to administration.
According to group member Quentin Reynolds (B.A. ‘21), members of the group were not notified of the name change until it happened. Additionally, the only administrator on the page is under the name “Vandyalumni Forpalestine.”
“I think that changing the ‘Dank New Rand Memes’ page into the ‘Vandy Alumni for Palestine’ page without any sort of warning to members was very inappropriate because the previous focus of the page had nothing to do with Palestine or Israel, or serious world issues in general,” Reynolds said in an email to The Hustler. “I understand that some people would like to raise support for Palestine, but randomly taking over a Facebook group is an exceptionally strange way to do so.”
On the same day of the name change, a group of 27 undergraduate protestors from the Vanderbilt Divest Coalition rushed into Kirkland Hall, calling on Vanderbilt administration to allow the student body to vote on an amendment to the VSG Constitution that would prevent VSG funds from being used on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’s boycott targets. All students who entered the building have been placed on interim suspension, and four students and a Nashville Scene reporter were arrested.
Through the group, VAFP said they aim to support the student protestors by sharing resources with alumni in the group.
“It is now more important than ever for us alumni to stand together in support of these students and their goal of promoting freedom,” the VAFP statement reads.
