CSU President Releases Statement After Student Blackface Incident
After four white CSU students posted a photo earlier this week posing in blackface, Colorado State University faced national outcry.
The controversial photo (which featured the caption 'Wakanda forevaa', a reference to Black Panther) has since been taken down, but screenshots are still circulating social media as well as national news outlets.
The new president of the school, Joyce McConnell, released a statement today commenting on the incident.
Our students, faculty, staff, and alumni were deeply harmed, hurt, frightened, and angered by a photo posted on Instagram last weekend by a CSU student. We promised that we would respond with action, and we uphold that promise. Blackface has a racist history that evokes fear, anger, and sorrow. It is a dehumanizing practice that continues today, and it is despicable. As your President, I will lead the work that we must do together to stand against racism on our campuses and in our community.
McConnell went on to propose new initiatives at the university to combat racism, including funding student-led initiatives, student conduct code discussions, and a diversity symposium event.
No matter how much controversy the school faces, Colorado State is working hard to make students of all cultures feel more welcome when incidents of this nature occur on-campus.