The president of Oklahoma State University has apologized after a white student posted an image of herself on social media in blackface.
OSU President Burns Hargis says he met today with black student leaders who expressed frustration and concern over the racially insensitive post. The image was posted six days after a group of OSU students took a similar picture in which some students appeared in blackface on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Hargis says the OSU campus welcomes all students and that intolerance or discrimination is not acceptable. He says OSU officials are working with the students involved in the incidents to help them understand the consequences of their inappropriate actions.
OSU spokeswoman Carrie Hulsey-Greene says campus officials are considering conducting meetings to open dialogue and stress campus diversity.
We still have work to do in addressing the matters of diversity and equality. #okstate committed to providing inclusive environment for all. pic.twitter.com/no8IQ7GH44
— Burns Hargis (@burnshargis) January 19, 2017
I commend our students for their peaceful protest today. We are committed to working w/students to develop more effective diversity training pic.twitter.com/5VpqehBh77
— Burns Hargis (@burnshargis) January 23, 2017