At least two colleges and universities have rescinded admission offers to potential students who posted racist statements on social media, Inside Higher Ed reported.
In the wake of the death last month of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, schools are coming under increased pressure to respond to racist social media posts made by incoming students.
A student from Springfield, Ohio, set to attend Xavier University, a Jesuit institution in Cincinnati, is accused of tweeting that “In America you are allowed to be racist as long as you don’t act on it,” earlier this month, according to local news reports in Ohio. Also, the student is accused of frequently using the “n word” in posts. The student's account appears to have been deleted but screenshots have been widely circulated online and by local news outlets, which also reported Xavier had rescinded its admission offer.
“After review, Xavier has decided to revoke our offer of admission to the incoming student,” the university wrote in a statement posted on Twitter, adding that it was “committed to maintaining a community that supports all of our members.”
Xavier did not release the name of the student.
Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, responded to a tweet with a screenshot of an admitted student’s racist Snapchat post, saying it had decided to rescind the student’s admission.
Other schools including the University of Delaware in Newark and Temple University in Philadelphia have been made aware of racist posts by incoming students and have said they are considering action, according to the Inside Higher Ed report.