PC Student’s Snapchat Photo Ignites Backlash from NAACP
Friday, October 27, 2017
A Snapchat photo purportedly from a Providence College student -- with the caption dressed "as a nig" on it -- has drawn sharp rebuke from NAACP at the school.
"At 10:14 p.m. [on Wednesday] students were made aware of the snapchat of that student and the quote associated with it. It did not take long for people to circulate the photo," said PC NAACP President Adriel Antoine '18. "Administrators and Hall Directors on call were all notified promptly after. Security and Admin have been working on the situation ever since then."
"From the PC NAACP and the Board of Representatives have asked students to wear all black to show support and let their voices be heard," said Antoine.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"I don’t want to personally give the names of the students involved because of my leadership positions on campus as well as me being an RA. I do not want to violate FERPA," said Antoine. "But it's definitely a PC student."
Latest at PC
In August, GoLocal reported that PC was ranked at the top of 382 schools -- for having "little race/class interaction" in The Princeton Review's 26th Annual College Rankings.
Steve Maurano, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Community Relations at Providence College, responded at the time with the following statement:
“Embracing Diversity” is one of the five core values of Providence College’s strategic plan. When Fr. Shanley became president in 2005, 8% of our undergraduate day students self-reported as multicultural. Since then, we have made a conscious and deliberate effort to increase the number of multicultural students at the College, and that figure has steadily increased to the point where it is 18.3% of the class of first-year students who will begin their college career later this month. We aim to increase that figure even further in the years to come," said Maurano.
"Two years ago students from the Board of Representatives (myself included) wrote demands to address anti-blackness and racism at PC. In those demands are the blueprint to address issues like this and we have been pushing for their FULL implementation since it was released," said Antoine on Thursday. "Obviously something like this is unacceptable and only echoes the Princeton Review article. PC was ranked the most segregated school in America and this is a reason why. Providence College administration has to respond to this quickly and must respond to it correctly or the damage done here could be devastating to the student body."
PC Reaction
The following email from Vice President of Student Affairs was shared with GoLocal:
Dear Members of the Campus Community,
Early this morning we were made aware that an inappropriate, offensive photo and caption including a racist slur were posted on Snapchat by a Providence College student. The Snap was received and viewed by other students who reported it to Residence Life and Public Safety. Immediately upon learning of the incident, a group of senior administrators, including the chief diversity officer, met and we are writing to share information with you from that meeting.
We learned from Public Safety that they are in the process of investigating and have already met with several of the people involved. The Dean of Students’ Office and Residence Life responded quickly and will continue to offer support to all students.
There was another report of a bias incident earlier in the week that is being investigated. Kristine and Student Affairs will oversee these investigations and work with student leaders regarding next steps.
Fr. Shanley will communicate with the campus community later today. Anyone having additional information relevant to this incident is encouraged to call Public Safety, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Office of the Dean of Students, or Kristine Goodwin’s office.
Kristine Cyr Goodwin
Vice President for Student Affairs
Fr. Kenneth Sicard, O.P.
Executive Vice President / Treasurer
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