ESU Community Outraged After Exposure of Racist Group Chat Comments

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Natalie Irula

Editor-in-Chief

Racist remarks against a professor from within a student GroupMe chatroom during a lecture on Feb. 4 have recently come to light.

The contents of this chat were exposed after several students spoke out against the initiator and the students who participated in the hurtful and derogatory comments against the professor of color.

Since then, many organizations have made posts in solidarity such as the Black Student Union, Feminist Alliance and the Student Government Association.

On Feb. 19, the administration sent out a campus-wide email addressing the incident and stating that it is being looking into by the Community Restoration Team and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.

“East Stroudsburg University does not condone the actions of these students and their offensive remarks,” stated the email sent by the administration.

“Their words are unacceptable within our campus community and do not uphold the standards of social justice that we embody as members of ESU’s Warrior Family.”

Many people within the ESU community are expressing outrage toward the situation on social media as screenshots and details are being shared across social media.

“Diversity is mentioned many times as an important aspect of ESU’s mission, so it is implied that a safe and accepting scholarly environment would be of the utmost importance to it’s faculty,” said student Trinity Holmes on her Instagram account, @trinityholmz_.

“The behavior model demonstrated a lack of respect for the professor and the students’ peers. The way of the warrior is to be ‘accountable for one’s actions,’ yet none of the students involved have been held accountable.”

Currently, there is a Change.Org petition “Fight the Six” calling for the end of systematic racism experienced by students across the Pennsylvania state school system.

You can find more information on the matter on the Black Student Union’s Instagram page @esu_bsu. Stay tuned for more updates.

Email Natalie at:

nirula@live.esu.edu