Every spring, the Association of African American Students at the University of South Carolina holds a cookout to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year. This year the event was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While students gathered online for the Zoom cookout, several people crashed the party. A statement from the Association of African American Students said that “during the cookout, unknown persons entered and proceeded to post a plethora of images, videos and messages containing racist slurs and derogatory terms. We are completely repulsed by the actions of these individuals and offer our support to those who were subject to or in any way impacted by it.”
Robert Caslen, president of the University of South Carolina, issued a statement that read: “What happened at the AAAS Cookout is absolutely unacceptable & disgusting. I can’t apologize enough to the students who witnessed such ignorance while gathering to fellowship with one another during this unprecedented time. University officials are aware & are investigating.”
They are “aware and are investigating,” are they now? Let’s not hold our breath for any actionable findings and actual actions.