I would like to believe this story isn't true, but school officials are backing a student she was assaulted election night for wearing a McCain-Palin button.

An Augsburg College student says she was assaulted on campus on election night and was called a racist by four young women because she was wearing a McCain-Palin button.

Annie Grossmann says she suffered blurred vision and may have had a concussion from a punch in the eye, but she declined medical attention.

Grossmann says she had been watching the returns with a handful of fellow Republicans, and was attacked while walking back to her dorm.

The school says it's unlikely Grossman's assailants were students (after all, their diversity statement says they are "promoting cross-cultural learning and understanding so that we at Augsburg grow in our capacity to create a hospitable learning community"), but "they have no reason to doubt" the attack. An SCSU student told me he "was afraid my car was gonna be vandalized with the [McCain] sticker on it." Luckily, he drives a beater "on its last legs".

Labels: higher education, Minnesota