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Five WCU students who were seen in racist social media videos over the weekend are no longer enrolled in the university and will not return, according to a statement made by Chancellor Kelli Brown on the WCU Facebook page Tuesday evening. On Saturday, August 22nd, a Snapchat video surfaced of three white, female WCU students saying the n-word. Outrage ensued among the student body, and that evening Chancellor Brown released a video statement condemning the racist behavior and ensured that university officials were investigating the students involved. The next day, a separate video of two white, male students saying the n-word was posted on social media. “Alright, first of all n******, hold the f*** up and listen to this,” one of them says. The second student then holds up an “OK” hand signal, which has been associated with white supremacy, and says, “Just because you throw up this like an ‘OK’, does not mean that it’s white power.” A Trump 2020 flag can be seen hanging in the background of the video. In response Chancellor Brown released another statement, emphasizing her disappointment in the students and once again condemning bigotry on campus. “These past 24 hours have been a whirlwind of emotions for me and many others on this campus,” she said. “We must rise above the negativity and prejudice. I ask all members of the Catamount family to live up to the community creed.” In response to the videos, fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha held an event on campus to rally together against racism, while the Black Student Union called for action against the students featured in the videos. Brown spoke at the event hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha, stating that diversity and inclusive excellence is one of her top priorities as chancellor. This isn’t the first time WCU has dealt with incidents of racism on campus. Students staged a silent protest in 2016 after racist comments were made on a social media app associated with the school. In 2018, students held a rally against intolerance after multiple incidents of white students shouting racial slurs at African American students. ● Some information in this story was gathered with the help of reporting by Joel Vélez Rodríguez of the Western Carolina Journalist. The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
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8/27/2020
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