Students seen in racist videos are no longer enrolled at NC university, school says
(Warning: The videos linked to in this story contain racist and explicit language.)
Five students no longer attend Western Carolina University after multiple videos surfaced on social media over the weekend showing them using racial slurs and other bigoted language, school officials announced late Tuesday.
The students — who are not named in a university news release announcing the decision — include three women and two men.
“University officials responded consistent with the WCU Code of Student Conduct. As a result, the students seen in the videos in question are no longer enrolled at WCU and will not return,” Chancellor Kelli R. Brown said in a statement published on the university’s Facebook page.
Brown had previously said the university was taking undisclosed action against the students, adding that it was “difficult to express the level of disappointment and disgust” she felt over the student’s conduct, McClatchy News reported.
The videos in question “came to light” on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23, according to Tuesday’s news release, but it’s unclear when they were initially posted.
The first showed three Western Carolina students — all women — and one person who does not attend the university, Brown said Tuesday. It appears to be a Snapchat story about the use of the n-word.
“If I’m a cracker, you’re allowed to call them a (n-word) — not with the ‘er,’ just with the ‘a,’ ” one person is heard saying.
A second person reiterates her.
“Just with the ‘a.’ Not with the ‘er.’ Let’s pipe it down,” she says. “If you don’t like my Snapchat stories, gladly take me off — take me off.”
The university responded to the video in a statement later that day condemning their actions “in the strongest possible terms” as “bigoted and racially insensitive.”
A second video then surfaced the following day showing two male Western Carolina students, according to Tuesday’s news release.
It shows the students defending their use of the “OK” hand gesture, which the Anti-Defamation League has linked to white supremacy.
“Hey (n-word),” one of the students says in the video. “I gotta tell you just because you throw up this like it’s an OK, doesn’t mean that it’s white power, okay? Now we might be f---ing Trump fans, but we ain’t racist man.”
Brown responded to the second video in a video statement attached to a signed letter, saying “this behavior disappoints, angers, frustrates me to no end.” She also called student leaders’ calls for action “justifiable.”
“University officials are taking active steps even now,” she said in the video.
The five students aren’t enrolled at Western Carolina, but officials declined to provide further details on the disciplinary action taken against them, according to Tuesday’s news release.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 3:12 PM with the headline "Students seen in racist videos are no longer enrolled at NC university, school says."
