Black students at the University of Pennsylvania received hateful text messages. They were specifically targeted for their race.
The Daily Pennsylvanian, the university's student newspaper, reported that several UPenn black freshmen were added to a GroupMe message named "Mud Men." They were bombarded with racial slurs and graphic images with racially explicit content.
A member of the group posted a photo of lynchings with the caption, "I love America." The same individual also posted an event into the message called "Daily lynching."
The University of Pennsylvania has released a statement on Twitter revealing that the GroupMe account "appears to be based in Oklahoma." Police and information security staff are already working to find the exact location of the account.
In an official statement, President Amy Gutmann, Provost Vincent Price and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli shared their thoughts about the racist messages to Penn students. The statement was issued to the whole school community.
"We are absolutely appalled that earlier today Black freshman students at Penn were added to a racist GroupMe account that appears to be based in Oklahoma," they said. "The account itself is totally repugnant: it contains violent, racist and thoroughly disgusting images and messages. This is simply deplorable."
They also confirmed that the administration is doing everything it can to address the impact that these racist messages have on black students on campus. They are increasing campus safety and are reaching out to affected students.
"This is absolutely vile material and completely offensive to everyone on our campus," they added. "We are both angry and saddened that it was directed to our students or to anyone. The people responsible for this are reprehensible."
This is not the first time that minority groups have been attacked on campus. Since Donald Trump has won the elections, hostile acts against minority students in schools have increased.
There have been several instances this week that suggest how Donald Trump's victory at the U.S. 2016 election has sparked backlash among the minority groups on campuses. Universities have been trying to pacify fears about the nation's future by organizing meetings and counseling sessions.
