STILLWATER — Two separate incidents of Oklahoma State University students donning “blackface” during the semester that just started sparked a protest Monday and have drawn apologies from the offenders.
Students protested peacefully outside OSU President Burns Hargis’ office, and Hargis came out to shake hands and meet with them. Hargis said in a statement that he met with African-American student leaders to discuss “racially insensitive posts” on social media that drew attention to the blackface incidents.
Hargis commended the demonstrators and said their reaction should be an example of how to address “inclusion, diversity and equality” on campus.
“We are working with the students involved in these incidents to help them understand the consequences of their inappropriate actions,” Hargis stated.
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“We all must learn from these incidents and bring positive change to our campus,” he said. “We had meaningful dialogue today, and we will continue to improve OSU’s efforts to be a more inclusive university.”
School spokesman Gary Shutt said the students involved in the internet postings aren’t being disciplined through OSU’s student conduct process.
The latest incident involved a student posting a Snapchat photograph of herself in blackface with the caption “When he says he only likes black girls,” according to the student’s apology on social media early Monday.
“I performed a careless act without any consideration of others,” the student wrote on her Facebook page. “I take full responsibility for my actions, and with that, I want to apologize. With all of my heart, I am sorry. There was no part of me that aimed to hurt or offend anyone.”
The other blackface incident at OSU took place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last week, with two students in blackface posing with two others in front of an OSU flag. The photo was posted to Instagram with a caption that in part stated: “Celebrating our first MLK Day off of school!!!!”
Those four students issued an apology a few days later.
“Our actions were thoughtless and harmful,” the statement says. “We also now see how easily social media can cause heartache and pain. We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to our entire OSU family and beyond as well as genuinely ask for your forgiveness.”
OSU freshman Caleb Kidd said incidents involving blackface or other acts of racism shouldn’t happen on a campus as diverse as Oklahoma State.
“I think ignorance needs to be spoken against, especially in this case,” Kidd said.
Payton Pleasant, an OSU sophomore, said that because of the campus’ diversity, he was surprised that the incidents happened.
“There’s not many cases of blatant racism or something that offends the students,” Pleasant said.
Hargis posted a photo from the demonstration on Twitter that shows a student holding a sign that reads, “LOVE & UNITY ARE THE ANSWER.”
“As the President of OSU, I want to be clear that intolerance or discrimination of any person or group is not acceptable on this campus or in our society,” Hargis said in his statement. “Instead, we welcome and value all students.”
