Oklahoma student suspended in connection to racist messages at Trump’s alma mater: Official

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.”

https://twitter.com/President_Boren/status/797289171547291648

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.