Methodist uni student uses Black players to show ‘ugly’ features, sorority suspended
A North Carolina university student is facing immense backlash after putting up a racist presentation at Methodist University. Identified as Taylor Marie, the university student reportedly used Black students to showcase "unattractive" features and compare them to attractive features, with photos of White students. Stunned students quickly made Marie go viral, leading her to shut her Instagram account, and the university to ban her sorority.
Debates over racism and topics like CRT have spilled onto school and university campuses, often with controversial results. In February, Julia Saville, a junior at a Virginia school went viral for picking Candace Owens as her 'Black Trailblazer' for Black History Month. In June, we also reported on the viral "racist" speech by Aruna Khilanani, where she claimed she fantasizes about shooting White people at Yale. In September, Stanford was forced to ban Chaze Vinci over a series of racist social media posts, targeting students and faculty members.
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All eyes are now on Methodist University in Fayetteville, which has responded by banning the sorority that hosted Marie's presentation. Reportedly, it was meant to be funny, but few, including members of the sorority who attended found it funny, taking to social media to showcase the blatant racism.
Marie hosts racist presentaiton
Sometime in September, Marie gave a presentation to members of Alpha Delta Pi (ADPI) at an event on campus. She used photos of the university's football players, all of whom were Black, to showcase features she found unattractive, like dreadlocks, thick lips, and large noses. She also then compared these features to those that she did find attractive, featuring photos of White students from the campus.
Reportedly, it was meant to be humorous, but that wasn't the general feeling others got. "This is extremely racist", one person shared on Instagram. The presentation quickly went viral and found its way to the university management. One university student told WRAL, "I don't see why something along the lines of this is funny. With everybody that was there, how come nobody stopped it?"
Marie and the ADPI sorority shut down their social media accounts around September 21. Before doing so though, Marie sent a long apology to all the players' features in her presentation. That apology was then put on an Instagram story of another student, as documented by Fayetteville HipHop. "I am beyond sorry and understand this does not make up for it... I am fully aware of how my actions caused pain to others and now I will accept with full responsibility the consequences," she said.
Uni opens investigation
On September 21, the university issued an official statement on the matter. It said it began investigating the incident the prior week and has already started the hearing process for the students involved. President Stanley T. Wearden added, "We cannot comment on any possible case involving any individual student. But I want to assure you that I take potentially racist behaviors very seriously."
The university also confirmed it has ordered ADPIi to "cease and desist from all activities" on campus. ADPI's national headquarters also confirmed it had suspended Marie as well as the chapter at Methodist University. It's unclear if Marie will be suspended for her actions, but the university has promised action. "We abhor racism in any form on our campus, and we immediately investigate all possible incidents of racism and act on them appropriately, as warranted by the facts," their statement said.