An Update to the Penn Community on Racist Messages Directed at Penn Students

An Update to the Penn Community on Racist Messages Directed at Penn Students

From

Amy Gutmann, President

Vincent Price, Provost and Craig Carnaroli, Executive Vice President

 

November 12, 2016

We wanted to update you on the latest developments in the racist messaging that was directed at Black students at Penn. Penn Police have been working with the FBI and their counterparts in Oklahoma, and tonight President Gutmann received a phone call from David Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma, informing her that they have determined that there is a basis for temporarily suspending one of their students as they investigate his involvement in this matter. Penn Police will continue to work with the FBI and University of Oklahoma Police in completing the investigation, as additional individuals may be involved.

We are grateful for the good investigative work that has gone into this—work that will continue—and also for the swift action by the University of Oklahoma. Our overriding concern is the safety and well-being of our students, and we will continue to do everything to support them so they can recover from this deplorable incident.

 

Below is the announcement that President Boren released during the evening of Friday, November 10, 2016:

Statement from University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren regarding the University of Pennsylvania incident.

The University of Oklahoma has made it clear that we will not tolerate racism or hate speech that constitutes a threat to our campus or others. We have a record of taking swift action once all of the facts are known. I have ordered the appropriate officials at our university to open immediate inquiry to determine the extent of involvement by a University of Oklahoma student in this matter. The university has already determined from its preliminary inquiry that there's a basis for a temporary suspension of the student under our student code while we continue to gather all of the facts. That suspension is effective immediately. It would appear this matter did not originate at the University of Oklahoma, but started elsewhere. This matter originally surfaced from messages to students at the University of Pennsylvania. We are notifying the University of Pennsylvania of our finding.

 

 

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