College Student Expelled for Racist Social Media Content, Then Reinstated Because She Didn’t Post it
“We will ensure she transitions seamlessly back into campus life when the fall semester begins. She has our full support.”
A student at Wesleyan College in Georgia, a women’s college, was recently expelled for allegedly posting something deemed racist on social media.
The school ultimately reversed this decision and reinstated her when it became apparent that she had not published the material.
Dennis Romero reports at NBC News:
Georgia student expelled for racist social media reinstated, school finds she didn’t post it
Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, said Tuesday a student expelled for racist social media was reinstated after an appeal revealed the woman did not post the content.
“We received new information showing that the student did not post the racist content in early June,” the school said in a statement. “We will ensure she transitions seamlessly back into campus life when the fall semester begins. She has our full support.”
The expulsion was announced by the school June 4 after the college, the first in the world chartered for women, was made aware of the postings that morning, according to Tuesday’s statement as well as one made June 4.
On that day, multiple accounts on social media highlighted Instagram posts by a woman purporting to be a Wesleyan student. One photo features a woman and a statement about Black Americans that uses the n-word.
Two Halloween posts shared that day include a photo of a woman in a green “Border Patrol” t-shirt holding handcuffs and posing with a man in a serape and sombrero, paired with the words, “border?…secured. found him, met him & and just had to get a pic.”…
The imagery examined by the school was from the student’s high school days, Lawrence said, and was created during school activity. The student’s argument “supposedly includes proof that the words were added by someone who downloaded her photo and then reposted it,” she said.
Does this mean this was a hoax, intended to smear the student? It sure looks that way.
.@WesleyanCollege expelled a white student weeks ago for "racist social media" but has now reinstated her after an appeal revealed the woman was a victim of a hoax. Apparently, someone repurposed a photo of her & added fake racist text over it. #HateHoax https://t.co/QScova43JJ
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 31, 2020
Wesleyan College President Vivia Fowler released the following statement on Instagram:
Last month, Wesleyan issued a statement that it had expelled a student for allegedly posting racist content on social media. Today, we retract and repudiate the statement that this student posted the racist content that appeared in social media in early June.
On the morning we learned of the information, we launched an investigation and expelled the student that afternoon, giving her the right to appeal as provided in our policies.
The student exercised her right to appeal. On July 10, the Wesleyan Student-Faculty Judicial Board, comprised of two faculty members, two staff members and two members of student government, ruled in the student’s favor, overturning the expulsion effective immediately. The committee considered new information that we learned in the weeks following the student’s expulsion, which called into question the accuracy of the original information. This information shows that the student did not post the racist content in early June while enrolled at Wesleyan.
In reaching the decision to expel the student, we broke no rule or policy. But that doesn’t minimize our regret for her expulsion. Going forward, we will ensure that the student transitions seamlessly back into the academic year with a feeling of purpose and wellbeing on campus.
In addition, we will continue our work, particularly over the last few years, of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. We are proud of our diverse student body. We are one of the first higher education institutions to offer trainings and workshops on the harmful impact of white privilege. We recently created a Cabinet-level position of Chief Diversity Officer, who also serves as Assistant Dean for Equity and Inclusion. Even though we erred in judgment in the case of this particular student, that will not deter us from doing our part to denounce racism and hate and build an environment where mutual respect and understanding can flourish.
We pledge to do better. If you have questions or concerns about this matter, I hope you will reach out personally to me, President Vivia Fowler or to Vice President for Advancement, Andrea Williford for a conversation.
As I’ve said before, if I had college-age children, I would advise them to avoid social media until they graduate. It is the cause of many problems like the one outlined here.
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
I don’t like that these institutions — which are supposed to be training our future leaders — serve us well by teaching an expel first, ask questions later mentality, even if only by example.
I don’t THINK they serve us well…
Is there a law suit in this?
Sounds like one was in process of being file. This is the among the best CYA letters I have ever read. Still, the college’s claims they did nothing wrong are questionable in that they must have a reasonable basis to defame. The student is a non-public person, and making a public statement about the student as posting racist social media content is actionable if the student can also demonstrate recoverable damages and that those claims are false. The college could easily have asked the student if the alleged postings were hers in order to give her a chance to deny it before taking action, in which case they should have forestalled any future action pending a more detailed investigation into the facts. The letter from the college mainly seeks to withdraw any potential damages claim from the student which is necessary for a successful defamation claim. They are hear fully admitting their initial claims were false.
I was going to say the same thing. Allegation in the morning and expelled by that afternoon?
I hope the chinaVirus bankrupts them.
Ooooh. That is the worst thing on Earth. The “n-word”, you say?? Do they mean one of the most ubiquitous and often-used words in pop culture? That n-word? THe one that you can hear 1000 times a day on the radio, in the city streets, in movies … all over, but that white people are “not allowed” to use? Okey doke.
OMG!!! That is AWFUL! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything as bad as this. This is the Wuhan virus of captioned photos! A killer!
This is all so ridiculous. Even if she had posted what they accuse her of, so what? There’s nothing wrong with either. The college has no right to throw someone out because they think the person is “racist”. People are allowed to hate whatever and whomever they want and I don’t think that colleges have the right to take their money and then toss them for thought-crimes.
This is all such retarded BS. College administrators have to be the dumbest and most despicable people on Earth … beating out college students by a hair. Insane.
Which n-word ? “network” or ‘news’ ?
Nonentities
Nanotechnologies. Neuroscience. Nebuchadnezzar. Neurophysiology. Neuroblastoma. Any one of these will get you cancelled by Wesleyan College because the geniuses who run the place don’t have a clue what they mean (so they must be racist).
You left out niggardly.
“non-playing character”…
“Ninnyhammers!” -Samwise Gamgee
This is all such retarded BS.
Ack!
Racist!Ablist! Bigot!/prog
Womens’ College??? Sounds discriminatory to me. How many male applicants have been turned away? Assuming there are any. One can only imagine the howls that would arise should someone try to create a “Men’s” college.
While feminism, masculinism, too, is a sex chauvinistic ideology, we recognize that men and women are equal in rights and complementary in Nature. That said, yeah, the innate bigotry of the Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic quasi-religion (e.g. its relativistic cousin “ethics”) is a first-order forcing of progressive corruption, confusion, and dysfunction. First, they pit women against men, then women against babies, then black against white, class against class, and so on and so forth on a forward-looking basis. Diversity breeds adversity.
Only three all-male colleges left in the United States. I graduated from one of them, Wabash College.
Just as a point of clarification, there are men’s colleges.
They’re hunting for witches, and holding warlock judgments. Diversity dogma (i.e. color judgments, class-based taxonomic systems, processes, and beliefs) is a progressive condition. #HateLovesAbortion
I am convinced many “diversity” university administrators have denunciation quotas like the ones that existed in Maoist China. Bring a certain number of scalps, or get scalped yourself.
FIFY.
Ultimately, the college did the right thing. However, compare this with how male students are treated, even when they are shown to be innocent. The double standards in this country are maddening.
Guilty until proven innocent is a progressive path. The double standards of a Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic quasi-religion (or “ethics”-driven society).
No they didn’t. They were FORCED to reinstate her under the threat of legal action, and have done absolutely nothing to the person that forged the racist material.
The right thing would have been to do a basic investigation BEFORE expelling her.
Marxists are very efficient. Guilt is assigned followed by sentencing with both determined by the only “facts” that matter — gender, race, political philosophy, etc. Investigations and trials are not needed when one has a narrative.
Hit down vote by mistake. Pardon.
However, even if you are forced to do the right thing, it’s still the right thing. And yes, they should have done the right thing before. That’s why i wrote ultimately.
A bad place to attend college obviously. More worried about white privilege than learning real college work.
“Wesleyan”. Some Armenian guy founded a college?!?
John Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist church. The Wesleyan Church is an evangelical Protestant denomination, based on the Methodist theology of John Wesley. The American Wesleyan Church was formed in 1843 to take a firm stand against slavery. In 1968, the Wesleyan Methodist Church merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church to form the Wesleyan Church.
So..yeah anyway, I know you were being sarcastic but hey. 🙂
Even at my age I have as many as 50 sarcasms a day with no effort.
;-{)}}}
Mike LaChance writes: “As I’ve said before, if I had college-age children, I would advise them to avoid social media until they graduate.”
Yes, and if your child was male, you’d tell him not to date a young woman on the same campus. She can ruin him by filing a complaint, whereas a woman from a different campus, or a townie, can’t.
And if your child was female you’d say to her what I said to my daughter the day we dropped her at college: “remember, sweetie, nothing good happens to a woman at a fraternity.” She rolled her eyes but remembered.
My youngest son is now a Civil Engineering senior at a ver liberal college. He has dated sporadically while in high school and college, but has not locked into one girl. Especially on his campus. His affinity for nursing students at other campuses keeps him away from the liberal crazy women.
He has instead preferred to spend time with his friends, male and female, playing golf, studying, and avoiding anything that will get him in social (not legal) trouble.
He told me he has plenty of time for women once he graduates. His goal is to be a pilot, so he will probably be single for a very long time.
He sees women as more trouble than they are worth. Unfortunately, his age group of males is smart to steer clear.
“Yes, and if your child was male, you’d tell him not to date a young woman on the same campus. She can ruin him by filing a complaint, whereas a woman from a different campus, or a townie, can’t.”
Duke lacrosse team begs to differ.
https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-county-man-white-supremacist-gun/33449460#
Pre crime confiscation of the man’s gun.
Pre-crime punishment is pretty much the entire purpose of California’s “red flag” law. We don’t need actual wrongdoing when allegations that you might do wrong are available.
This is really stupid and does nothing.
-He’s now been tipped off that the law is onto him.
-He runs a group that praises Dylan Roof. If he wants to obtain a gun illegally to commit illegal acts this confiscation won’t stop him. He likely has means through his group and now he has additional motive to break the law in heinous fashion.
-The media in publishing his name and the fact that he’s been disarmed have now declared open season on him from any black militants looking for revenge should they choose to attempt it.
How about advising them instead to avoid college?
I think avoiding Wesleyan College, at least, is sound advice.
STEM is still alive, on life support…
“”we will ensure that the student transitions seamlessly back into the academic year with a feeling of purpose and wellbeing on campus.””
I’d ensure that she transitioned seamlessly to a school that didn’t promote lynch law.
I’d ensure free tuition and room and board at the very least with a nice little signature to avoid a lawsuit if they are smart.
They probably aren’t judging by their statements on the matter. I hope she sues the crap out of them.
We broke no law… No, merely broke faith with your students.
If I had children of the age to go to college today, I’d tall them to avoid college *and* social media until they achieve an education. Both are deleterious to the desired end.
>> On the morning we learned of the information, we launched an investigation and expelled the student that afternoon, giving her the right to appeal as provided in our policies. <<
Remember how Oberlin said that they were going to investigate and then they didn't? I sense a long series of double-downs leading to a double-digit $M settlement. I would sue just to get them to go to the discovery stage.
I would love to see the look on the president's face when she gets a letter with a Lee Plakas return address.
“Exhume the body! She’s innocent.”