A student at the University of Oklahoma has been temporarily suspended for their role in racist messages sent to University of Pennsylvania students on Friday, Oklahoma President David Boren said in a statement. The school “has made it clear that we will not tolerate racism or hate speech that constitutes a threat to our campus or others,” Boren said. “The university has already determined from its preliminary inquiry that there’s a basis for a temporary suspension for the student under our student code while we continue to gather all of the facts. The suspension is effective immediately.”
Attached is my statement regarding the UPenn incident which was reported earlier today. – DBo pic.twitter.com/2Ez1TQPfB4
— David Boren (@President_Boren) November 12, 2016
Through group messaging app Groupme, black students at Penn, the alma mater of President-elect Donald Trump, reportedly received racist messages that included images of black people being lynched, racial slurs and other hateful content. UPenn President Amy Gutmann said in a statement Friday that the account that sent the messages originated in Oklahoma. Boren said in his statement that the “ matter did not originate at the University of Oklahoma, but started elsewhere.” Following the news of the suspension, Gutmann said in a statement Saturday that Penn is “ 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. ” She said that Penn Police have been working with the FBI and their counterparts in Oklahoma and will continue to do so as the investigation continues.
