IU investigating racist, threatening comments in response to #IUstandswithMizzou

Monday, University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin resigned after multiple protests by students who argued the school has done too little to fight racism on campus. A group of IU students this week showed support for the protestors with a social media campaign involving the hashtag #IUstandswithMizzou. Some have posted a photo showing a group standing in front of the school’s black culture center.

The photo was organized by IU’s Black Graduate Student Association, or BGSA, according to president Danita Dolly.

Dolly said some of the comments, such as one saying “If you’re not a white student, don’t come to class,” were surprising and hurtful.

IU posted several messages on Twitter condemning the comments, which stemmed from the social app Yik Yak. The app allows users in a defined area (in this case, the IU Bloomington campus) to post anonymously. According to IU spokesman Mark Land, officials have not yet decided whether to take action regarding the Yik Yak app itself, which has been banned on other campuses because of similar incidents. It's possible to put a type of "geofence" on apps to disable them in certain areas.

“A lot of undergrads are afraid,” said Dolly. “They’re very sad. We as graduate students are trying to be a presence and make sure that students feel supported.”