HARTFORD, Conn. — In the midst of a nationwide Black Lives Matter movement, a number of UConn Hartford students said now is the time to correct acts of racial injustice.
In January, racist and homophobic text messages allegedly sent by a member of the UConn Hartford Undergraduate Student Government surfaced on social media.
FOX61 is not identifying the student accused of sending the messages that included slurs.
On Tuesday the same organization, USG Hartford, posted a Black Lives Matter message on social media, which upset a number of students who called it hypocritical.
Students called on the university for action regarding the January incident.
“It was just really contradictory being that they knew there was anti-blackness and racism happening within the student government,” UConn senior Brittany Diaz said.
There are a total of five separate Undergraduate Student Government organizations at each UConn campus, this incident solely involves USG Hartford.
In response, UConn Hartford professors, along with the Hartford Undergraduate Student Government held an emergency meeting Thursday night, voting to begin the process of impeaching the student in question.
Due to federal student privacy laws the university was unable to confirm to FOX61 an investigation took place, but according to USG Hartford members, an investigation was being conducted.
Students say although this is just one incident, it isn't the first time UConn has dealt with racial issues; referencing last year’s incident involving two students arrested for shouting a racial slur on the Storrs campus -- and said they would like UConn to step up as a university condemning such acts.
“We want UConn to firmly unequivocally say that UConn is not the place for this type of behavior, UConn is not the place for people with these kinds of thoughts,” Junior Sahar Amjad said.
Earlier this week UConn President Tom Katsouleas released a statement regarding recent national events surrounding prejudice and racism, stating in part:
“There are no simple solutions or easy answers to solve the issues of injustice and prejudice in society and at our university. Of all of the various parts of our experience as administrators, this is the one area where we both feel like we have not done enough or met our own expectations. We encourage our community to hold our entire leadership team accountable as we carry out that vital work together.”
