More than 1,500 people signed a petition last week to have a student suspended from Shippensburg University following the student’s controversial Facebook post.
In the post, the student said SU’s campus was filled with “Dark meat” and “inner city garbage.”
According to a petition summary on Change.org, the student posted the Facebook status on Sept. 27. The student also boasted in the comments of the post about his possession of a knife.
Following the incident, SU President George “Jody” Harpster sent an email to SU students about the post.
According to the email, the dean of students and SU police talked to the student and the controversial post was deleted.
The email also says that the student sent an apology letter to SU.
“I sincerely apologize to all for my words of hate. Those words were born out of anger, ignorance, selfishness and bitterness. I take full responsibility for the things I said and their negative effects on others as a result,” the student said in an apology letter to SU, which was partially shared via email.
An alumnus took to Change.org to have the student suspended.
Christopher Ericson posted the petition to suspend the student “until he proves he is not a danger to students.”
The petition’s summary cited excerpts of SU’s student handbook, the Swataney, which prohibits the possession of knives on campus.
“No person shall engage in harassing, intimidating or threatening conduct,” the Swataney states.
Following the petition’s rising popularity, SU released a notice on Facebook stating that the student who posted the controversial Facebook status was no longer enrolled at SU. It is unclear whether the student left by their choice or the university’s.
SU’s Vice President of Student Affairs Roger Serr declined to comment on the matter, citing the former student’s privacy.
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