In response to nationwide protests against police brutality and racism, some colleges and universities are rescinding offers to prospective students over past social media posts that some have deemed offensive.
Numerous universities have indicated their support for black students and police reform, and some have taken action against prospective students who have made allegedly offensive social media posts. (RELATED: United Nations Human Rights Body Will Examine Police Brutality And Racism In The US)
Disney star Skai Jackson has exposed seveal offensive posts through her Twitter feed, according to InStyle.com. The Univeristy of Florida rescinded an admission offer to Liberty Woodley, a prospective student, after Jackson shared posts made by Woodley when she was sixteen, The College Fix reported.
this is Liberty Woodley from Cape Coral , FL. She graduated from Mariner High School and is currently set to attend the University of Florida ! pic.twitter.com/Itj9QPrwr3
— Skai Jackson (@skaijackson) June 5, 2020
In one post, Woodley called herself racist but said that she tries to overcome it. She then said, “two black girls sitting behind me won’t shut the fuck up & i want to punch them because they are so fucking retarded.” Woodley’s family, who have received death threats, told the Gainesville Sun “We are not racist people.” Woodley stated she made the comments in anger and regrets them.
Louisiana State University (LSU) declined to rescind an admission offer to another prospective student Jackson highlighted for past offensive posts and stated their “constitutional limitation” prevented them from rescinding the offer.
BATON ROUGE, LA -JULY 11: Students gather at a prayer vigil for Alton Sterling at the Memorial Tower at Louisiana State University. (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)
Ferrum College rescinded an offer after a post calling black protesters the n-word was reported and investigated, according to The Roanoke Times.
The College of Charleston rescinded an offer to a student on June 2 over a “racist social media post.”
A prospective Marquette University student’s offer and scholarship was rescinded after a post on Snapchat comparing kneeling to the anthem and kneeling by former Officer Derek Chauvin on Floyd’s neck was found. The Riverhead News Review said the student has made multiple insensitive posts according to multiple peers.
Xavier University turned down a student who was secured on the cross-country and track teams, after finding “offensive, racially charged social media posts.” The student used the n-word and called protesters “thugs,” Local 12 reported.
Some colleges, such as LSU, Missouri State University, and Northern Kentucky University, where a petition garnered 12,000 signatures and hundreds of emails were sent, have rejected calls to rescind student offers.
Joe Cohn, the Legislative and Policy Director for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), told the Daily Caller most universities have the legal ability to rescind offers based on speech and said “students certainly have robust free speech once admitted.”
Cohn further pointed out, if the goal in rescinding “is to purge the world of racists, that tends to be counterproductive.” The two ways to deter prejudice is by interaction with different people and by education, which higher education is “particularly situated,” Cohn stated.