UMOJA and Descendants of Afro-Americans at Penn have issued public statements condemning a video that circulated on campus last week in which two Penn students made racist remarks and used racial slurs.
Last week, Penn announced it was launching an investigation into the video. The two student groups’ recent statements call on the University to hold the students in the video accountable for their actions, publicly acknowledge the video, and reaffirm its commitment to supporting and protecting Black students at Penn.
On Oct. 8, UMOJA publicly condemned the video in a statement posted to the group’s Instagram account and cosigned by other groups across campus.
“Over the past two years, the University has swiftly disciplined students for actions it deemed as violations of free speech, particularly toward those involved in campus protests and demonstrations,” the statement read. “We will not stand idly if this same level of urgency is denied to Black students in the face of blatant racism.”
UMOJA also listed four demands for the University, including “substantive disciplinary action” against the students, a formal apology to Penn’s Black students and faculty members, the development of an accountability framework for racial incidents, and increased investments in support centers and services for Black students.
In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, College seniors and UMOJA co-chairs Menna Delva and Dahai Yonas described their frustration for “the privatized way in which the University's policies handle incidents like this.”
“While we understand the legalities surrounding misconduct, it is hard to accept that those rules keep us from even basic, non-identifying updates about what steps are being taken, on what timeline, and according to what precedents,” the students wrote. “The language used in that video has hurt so many of us in the Black community, and the continued lack of transparency only compounds that hurt.”
They added that Penn’s line between free speech and hate speech “remains blurred in terms of allowing the anti-Blackness to fester without consequence all too often in the name of protection.”
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Penn’s Student Code of Conduct states that although “the University condemns hate speech, epithets, and racial, ethnic, sexual and religious slurs … the content of student speech or expression is not by itself a basis for disciplinary action.”
“Student speech may be subject to discipline when it violates applicable laws or University regulations or policies,” the code of conduct continues.
College junior Mariama Njie, UMOJA’s political chair, also acknowledged the “lapse in communication between the University and its students when troubling situations arise.”
“No one on this campus should feel comfortable with expressing vulgar racist, or harmful rhetoric towards anyone in the Penn Community or beyond,” Njie wrote to the DP. “So in the case that this conduct is presented, it’s important that the disciplinary measures are level with the severity of the situation.”
In a statement posted to their Instagram account, DAAP condemned the students’ actions, urging the University to “take proactive steps to ensure a fruitful and nurturing environment for all members of its diverse student body.”
Adding to UMOJA’s demands, DAAP requested that the University provide “more substantial financial support” for the Black community at Penn and enforce “mandatory cultural literacy workshops” in collaboration with Penn administrators, Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, and other Black student organizations.
”It is imperative that the University protect its Black students and put an end to Anti-Blackness at Penn with the same vigor provided for all the other minority communities on campus,” the group wrote.
