UMass investigates source of racist emails on Amherst campus – NBC Boston

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The president of the University of Massachusetts vows to find out who sent racist emails to black student organizations at Amherst’s flagship campus, but some students say the administration’s reaction is too late.

“The blatantly racist emails recently sent to black student organizations at UMass Amherst and other deplorable acts of anti-black hate are appalling and disgusting,” System Chairman Marty Meehan said in a statement Monday. “While UMass Amherst still tries to identify the source of these messages, we know that the messages do not in any way reflect the true character of the UMass community and we have zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Those responsible will be held accountable, he said.

Emails, among other things, challenge the intelligence of black college students.

The school’s diversity manager said that a racist email was recently sent to several groups of black students on campus.

The university hired a cybersecurity company, Stroz Friedberg Inc., to investigate the source of the anonymous emails.

“While we are aware of the challenges of determining the source of anonymous emails such as these, we are confident that Stroz Friedberg, with his vast expertise and technical ability, will methodically follow every lead in pursuit. of the contemptible person (s) responsible, ”Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said in an email to the campus community.

The UMass Black Student Union, in a social media post last weekend, said black student organizations have been receiving racist emails for weeks and the university has been slow to respond. .

“Black organizations started receiving racist emails as early as the second week of September,” the message read. “It has taken the university nearly a month since the first anti-black racist incidents to recognize these cases. The university’s long response time to racial incidents compared to its rapid response to non-racial incidents does not reflect not a university that claims to be “committed to the policy, principles and practice of maintaining an environment which prohibits discriminatory behavior and provides equal opportunity to all.”

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