Last Updated: Jan. 25 at 5:58 p.m.
In an email sent Jan. 23 afternoon by Smith Jackson, vice president for Student Life, students were informed of an on-campus incident of racial and sexual bias that allegedly occurred two days prior.
According to Jackson's email, the incident occurred at the intersection of Haggard and North O'Kelly Avenues adjacent to the Numen Lumen Pavilion and involved two college-aged males driving east who yelled racial and sexual slurs at an African-American female Elon student.
As Elon University Police are investigating video footage and working to identify the perpetrators, several campus departments are working to address what happened and to provide support to the student involved.
"We are saddened by and condemn this behavior, which is totally unacceptable," Jackson wrote in response. "This incident serves as further evidence that all members of our community must work every day to eliminate this kind of ignorance and lack of respect, both on campus and in the wider community."
In response, the university scheduled two meetings.
The first meeting was a forum organized by the Black Cultural Society (BCS) and took place Friday in the Koury Business Center's LaRose Theatre. BCS invited all students, faculty and staff who identified as Black/African Americans to attend in order to critically examine the current campus climate for Black/African American students.
According to sophomore Alexandre Bohannon, BCS vice president, the intent of the event was to provide a platform for students to rally together to discuss acts of racism that remain prevalent in American culture.
“[The Black Cultural Society] decided to respond [to Wednesday’s incident] by hosting a meeting with the students who identify as Black or African American to sort of provide a safe space so people can be candid and speak about not just this incident, but how often other incidents occur on campus,” Bohannon said.
Junior Cassidy Stratton attended Friday’s event because she felt it was important to discuss the impact that racial bias has on college campuses.
“We [African Americans] are oppressed in America, so it’s essential that we come together as a group that needs to be one on Elon’s campus,” Stratton said.
A second meeting sponsored by the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education (CREDE) in collaboration with BCS invites everyone at Elon to engage in meaningful conversations about acts of intolerance on campus. This event is scheduled to take place in the Lakeside meeting room Jan. 26 at 5 p.m.