Chaze Vinci: Stanford bans student from campus for racist, violent social media posts
Stanford University has taken disciplinary action against student Chaze Vinci, prohibiting him from "entering Stanford's campus or facilities" after a series of racist and violent social media posts by him.
Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne made the announcement in an email on Monday, a day after the university denounced Vinci for his behavior and said it was working to take action to ensure the safety of the community. Vinci's racist posts from the weekend were cited in the email as a reason for the ban, including ones reportedly containing violent imagery directed toward a Black student and a Black faculty member among other misogynistic and offensive posts, the Standford Daily reported.
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In the email, Tessier-Lavigne characterized the ban as a “first step” in responding to Vinci's social media posts. The university president did not specify what additional steps may be taken against the student, citing the institution's policies and privacy clauses. “The posts created pain, fear, and anger for many people,” wrote Tessier-Lavigne. “The threatening language and identity-based attacks in the posts are totally inconsistent with what we want, or will accept, at Stanford.”
Vinci continued to post more sexist and racist content on Twitter Monday, including attacks toward other community members. Meanwhile, it appears that his Instagram is no longer active. According to The Daily, Vinci expressed admiration for former Stanford student Brock Turner, who was reportedly convicted of a felony. “A woman always gets what’s coming to her. But yea. I’m the one who’s getting expelled. How’s that worked out in the past?" he wrote.
Brock Turner walking out of the courtroom like: 😎👑
— Chaze Vinci (@ichazevinci) August 30, 2021
A woman always gets what’s coming to her.
But yea. I’m the one who’s getting expelled. How’s that worked out in the past? @mldauber pic.twitter.com/TZ6Qqi9sWQ
Vinci's posts quickly made waves across the community, prompting several Stanford faculty and students to express outrage and call for further action from the university. Many demanded that he be expelled from the school. “Expelling Chaze is an opportunity for Stanford to take action against anti-Black racism beyond focus groups and academic diversity initiatives by concretely making Stanford a safer space for Black students,” masters student Jianna told The Daily in an email on Sunday.
Some students who said they were close to Vinci expressed concerns about his mental wealth, while others argued that a diagnosis would explain but not excuse his racist and misogynistic online behavior. "Chaze has been displaying increasing radicalization online since mid-2020. But we were just appalled by the extent the university has let it get this far. It's just beyond disgusting, beyond the pale," student Dana Chiueh told KTVU.
Vinci himself spoke to the station via Zoom. "...what I've been trying to do is frame my biblical understanding of the world in a political context. It seems to be quite effective so far as the word is alive and active and divides the cursed from the blessed very quickly as we're seeing play out," he said, reportedly adding that his words and images were meant to be divisive.
Vinci's mother Karen wrote in a Facebook post last August that her son had suffered from a “severe mental breakdown” due to the isolation caused by the pandemic coupled with the “mismanagement of his current medications.” Her statement came a day after Vinci had been arrested for breaking and entering, as well as pouring lighter fluid on someone. Vinci reportedly wrote under the post that he was now fine “for the Lord has redeemed me from my bed of illness," The Daily reported.
