WASHINGTON — Three George Washington University students who posted a racist Snapchat message are being kicked out of their Alpha Phi sorority, and the offensive post has sparked campuswide condemnations.
The Jan. 31 Snapchat depicted a photo of two members of the sorority, one of whom is holding a banana peel. The caption reads: “Izzy: ‘I’m 1/16 black'”
The university’s provost, Forrest Maltzman, issued a statement the day after the Snapchat was posted, calling it “inappropriate.”
“Whatever the circumstance, or true intention of those involved, the image was disturbing, hurtful and not reflective of who I know we are as a community,” Maltzman said in the statement.
The sorority’s Facebook page has since been flooded with one-star ratings and comments reprimanding the members, with hashtags #AlphaPhiNot4Me and #AlphaPhiBigotry.
The chapter posted a statement apologizing for the photo and for a statement provided by Alpha Phi’s national headquarters, which has since been deleted, that “did not reflect the severity of this racist act.”
“We are culpable for this action as a group in which a few felt comfortable making a joke that was distinctly racist, ignorant, and harmful,” the chapter said on their Facebook page.
The chapter said that the three members are in the process of being terminated from the chapter and that the group has reached out to the Multicultural Student Services Center “in an effort to begin the process towards reconciliation and reeducation.”
This post is one of many around the region and the country that have brought attention to the issue of race on college campuses.
Harley Barber, a former University of Alabama student and member of Alpha Phi, was expelled in January after a video of her using racial slurs went viral.
GWU is not the only college in the area experiencing issues with racist statements on campus.
Cotton stalks attached to Confederate flags were found on American University’s campus in September. In 2017, bananas hung from nooses around the D.C. campus, prompting the FBI to investigate.
Most recently, anti-immigration flyers were found on American University’s campus in January.
The waves of racist incidents at area universities prompted the University of Maryland to establish a new procedure for reporting hate crimes.
