Article by Mady McColm

On the evening of Nov. 16, Student Kiah McCarley posted a tweet that began a conversation about hate speech and racism at the university.

The tweet contained a downloaded Snapchat video of Jordan Smith, fellow student and Sigma Nu member. Smith can be seen making gang-related hand gestures and saying, “Throw what you know, [racial slur].”

The captioned tweet by McCarley states, “Hey [Smith] pro-tip if you’re going to use racial slurs, maybe make sure no one is filming you.”

The video solicited a variety of responses. Drury’s official twitter account responded the next morning stating, “Drury condemns the use of any language/action that demeans or degrades an individual or group of people. We are a welcoming community that embraces diversity. The appropriate people are investigating this incident to determine if there has been a violation of university policy.”

Some users have attacked the video, claiming that Smith’s actions constitute as “hate speech.” Others claim that McCarley’s tweet against Smith could also be classified as such. Some users have claimed on the social media platform that this is an opportunity to talk about racism and similar issues on campus.

However, one thing is clear: many students are very curious about the action that will be taken by the university to address this issue.

Three days after the initial tweet, the Interfraternity Council released a statement not condoning the behavior and agreed to support all action taken by Drury in response to the incident.

The response latter urged people to report other racism seen on campus and help foster a more positive culture against this type of behavior.

“Moving forward the Interfraternity Council will be working towards how we can further instill our chapters with the aforementioned views on discrimination, hate rhetoric, etc. We will also be exploring how Fraternity Life can become more diverse so a discriminatory culture is not inadvertently fostered within our Greek system,” said the statement.

On Nov. 20, the Springfield News-Leader released an article about the incident with the headline, “Drury investigating fraternity member’s racist post on social media.” The article does not name Smith, but it does state that student affairs will be sending a letter of investigation and that no formal complaint has been made at this time.

As far as Drury students are concerned, the extent of the information that they have about the incident comes from this edition of the Springfield News-Leader.

Other than the initial reply to the tweet and evidence gathered by the News-Leader, Drury students have not heard a response from administration about his event. But this is not because no one has spoken up.

User @Yelluted on Twitter replied to the video thread. The comment said: “Hi Drury and @TimCloyd, can you please send out an email to the students with this information? Many don’t have Twitter and found out about the incident through the News-Leader.” A sad emoji was included at the end of the comment.

No reply was made to this tweet and no indication has been made by administration that they will address this incident further with Drury University students. Unfortunately, the lack in response may yield more negative than positive results for the university.

Serious questions have been posed by the student population. Some of the most heard questions include, “Do African American students on Drury’s campus feel safe knowing that a very public video of a student using hate speech has gone unaddressed other than a tweet?” and “What rights do students have to be informed about the events that occur within their very community?”

The Mirror reached out to Smith in regards to the incident.

“After consulting with the appropriate parties, I cannot give a full statement regarding the event that has come into light,” said Smith. “I would like to, however, extend my sincere apologies for my words and actions. I would never want to, nor intend to, offend anyone – particularly when based upon race, sexual orientation, gender, age, or any other personal characteristic. My words and gestures were distasteful and disrespectful; however, they were not racially driven, hate driven, or meant for the public platform. I do intend to give a formal statement on the manner when the time is appropriate. Thank you for your understanding.”

Tijuana Julian, executive vice president for student affairs, was also asked to provide a statement. Her response included the initial Twitter response and the following paragraph:

“Drury University upholds the standards and expectations outlined in the Non-Discrimination/Harassment Policy, as well as the Personal Rights Policy.  We are currently investigating the details of this specific incident.”

Any student on campus is welcome and encouraged to join the Black United Independent Collegiates, or BUIC. This organization exists to validate the experiences of black students. For more information, contact BUIC’s president Abigail Akinyemi at Aakinyemi@drury.edu.

Questions, comments or concerns about this incident, or how it has been handled? Contact Drury University through email or any social media platform. The university’s Twitter handle is @DruryUniversity.