The University of Missouri is investigating an incident in which two black students reported that racial slurs were used against them by other students on Tuesday night.
A woman who was with a group of six to seven white male and female students shouted, "Look at those niggers looking at us," as two black female students walked past them, according to a statement issued by the Legion of Black Collegians (LBC).
A statement from the Legion with regard to yesterday evening and the early hours of this morning.
The two black female students were members of the Legion of Black Collegians Activities Committee. Other LBC members joined the two women for their safety and campus police arrived to "assess the situation," according to a statement.
As police were trying to deescalate the situation outside the Delta Upsilon fraternity, members of the fraternity began shouting obscenities at the LBC members, including "Mizzou PC, c****ts, b****es, n*****s," the LBC said in a statement.
The LBC also said that some police officers tried to control its members instead of controlling the fraternity brothers who were yelling out the windows.
"Even though one of the suspects has been identified, and will be taken in for questioning, a simple warning is unacceptable," the LBC said. "Any student that selects to intentionally use hate speech on a campus that pushes the morals of 'inclusivity' and 'diversity' does not belong, and their presence continues to foster the apparent dichotomy amongst black and white students."
The university's interim chancellor, Hank Foley, said in a statement that he was "outraged and saddened" by the incident.
We are outraged and saddened to hear this happened. We have zero tolerance for actions like this.
The university said campus police had identified the students involved in the incident and that officials from the Office of Student Conduct and the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX were taking "appropriate action."
If any students involved in the incident are found to have violated the school's Student Code or nondiscrimination policies, they would face disciplinary actions, up to and including, suspension or expulsion, Foley said.
"The safety and security of our campus is our No.1 priority; the University of Missouri is committed to fostering an inclusive campus environment where all students, faculty, staff and visitors can live, learn, work, and feel safe," Foley added.
The Delta Upsilon chapter at Mizzou was also placed on "emergency suspension."
The fraternity's national organization said it was "aware of a verbal altercation" that took place on Tuesday and was working with the university to learn more about the incident.
"Racism and sexism have no place in our Fraternity and we expect our members to be positive contributors to inclusive campus environments," the organization said.
The university also cited other issues in announcing the Delta Upsilon suspension in a statement, including alcohol violations.
Fraternity temporarily suspended following racial incident: https://t.co/rPYlFPQZoZ
Students gathered on campus on Wednesday to discuss the incident and to pray.
Prayer circle now happening in the #Mizzou student center. Students are linking arms:
#Mizzou students: "We shall overcome."
"I'm here because we want to support our African American student body and to let them know that we consider this to be very serious," Foley said after addressing the students on Wednesday.
Here are #Mizzou interim Chancellor Hank Foley's comments on the student gathering in the student center today & la… https://t.co/HeEtfbByy0
"I can't prevent someone from making a racial slur like this — we can't be everywhere all the time — but we can raise our expectations of student conduct behavior and thats what we're doing today," Foley said.