A campus-wide email was sent out Tuesday afternoon in regard to an image circulating on social media that “is perceived to be racially motivated,” according to the wording of the email which was signed by Dr. Don Trahan, Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion, and Kerri Thompson Tillett, Associate Vice President/Chief Diversity Officer.
The image and accompanying caption was originally posted on an unofficial TCNJ Snapchat account with the username “TCNJ.snap”.
The email doesn’t include details of the photo or the message – it instead serves to “remind our collective community of who we are and of our commitment to fostering an inclusive campus climate.”
Although the photograph and message are racially motivated, we feel it is important for our readers to be entirely aware of this issue. Below is the Snapchat that was posted on the account that is well-known, campus wide.
Source: “TCNJ.snap” on Snapchat
Telma Teresa, a student at the college, shared the image, along with other screen shots of a conversation a student and the the moderator of the Snapchat account at that time had about the image, on Facebook Monday morning.
Teresa’s post tagged the The College of New Jersey’s official Facebook page, and in the post Teresa wrote “…this is an embarrassment of an institution and I’m PISSED I sit in classes, live in the same buildings as and pass by students that think that all “opinions” deserve to be respected or put on a platform that reaches thousands of people. Equating black people to gang culture is DANGEROUS…”
Teresa went on to say “…Crazy that a school that prides itself on “liberal learning” and creating a “well rounded individual” is quiet on issues facing the black community… especially calling out its students and staff members that reinforce white supremacy.”
The College of New Jersey’s Facebook page has not commented on the user’s post and has not posted anything in response. The page did, however, make a Facebook post on Tuesday that was unrelated to the issue.
On Tuesday evening, the Snapchat account “TCNJ.snap” posted a response to the issue on their Snapchat Story. The following screen shots are from their account and appear to be in the form of a public statement.
Source: “TCNJ.snap” on Snapchat
According to the founder of the account who made the above statement, there have been over 3,300 views of the statement(s). This number is an accurate representation of the amount of views an average Snapchat would get on the account every day.
In addition to the “TCNJ.snap” statement on their Story made by the founder of the account, Her Campus TCNJ reached out to the person who regained control of the account on Tuesday evening and received this statement regarding the issue:
“Before I passed “TCNJ.snap” onto its current moderators, I spent hundreds of hours building this account up and assuring that every single post was a positive one that portrayed TCNJ and it’s student in the best possible light. I know the Snapchat became so widely popular and accepted because of the strict standard for posting. It’s come to my attention that the current moderators are unable (to) maintain this strict standard 100 percent of the time. While I believe there was no malicious intent from the moderator who posted the offending snap, it was a clear demonstration of bad judgement, and an account with TCNJ’s name on it that only gets things right 99 percent of the time is not good enough. It fails the students, the administration, and it tarnishes the school’s incredible reputation. I’ve gotten an overwhelming amount of feedback from students that benefited from using the Snap in the past. It truly warmed my heart to hear so many positive experiences made possible by something I had originally created. But even one negative experience from the Snap is one too many, and I am now destroying it to guarantee this never happens again. Let this be a reminder that racism has no place in this world, and we must all do our part to stomp it out.”
The person who made the statement wished to remain anonymous, as they have remained since the account was created.
It is unclear at this time who sent the original Snapchat and accompanying caption to the account. It is also unclear who the moderator was that re-posted the Snapchat to the account.
The College of New Jersey, at this time, has yet to release any information regarding this incident other than the email Tuesday afternoon.
Cover Image Source