A protest of 400 students at the University of Mississippi following the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama Nov. 6 contained “racial epithets,” according to a statement from the university.
University of Mississippi police were informed that students were planning via Twitter to protest the re-election of President Obama in front of the student union Nov. 6.
Racial slurs were uttered during the protest, the statement said.
“The reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate and are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed,” university chancellor Dan Jones said in a statement.
When police first arrived, there were between 30-40 students, but over 400 were present within the next 20 minutes, according to the statement.
The university police ordered students to leave, and within 25 minutes, students had returned to their residences.
However, about 100 students moved to another hall to continue their demonstration. The university officers again broke up the crowd and made several arrests for public intoxication and failure to obey police orders.
Police made two arrests for disorderly conduct, including one for public intoxication and one for failure to comply with police orders.
“While we are grateful that there were no injuries and there was no property damage, we are very disappointed in those students who took a very immature and uncivil approach to expressing their views about the election,” Jones said.
“The gathering seems to have been fueled by social media, and the conversation should have stayed there,” he said.
“[We] would like to remind our students to uphold the UM creed: “I believe in fairness and civility. I believe in personal and prof. integrity,'” the university tweeted Nov. 7.
Staff and students organized a “We Are One Mississippi” candlelight vigil Nov. 7 in which attendees held lit candles and recited the UM creed.
“[We] are reminding our students of relevant statements within the university creed: The University of Mississippi is a community of learning dedicated to nurturing excellence in intellectual inquiry and personal character in an open and diverse environment,” Jones said.
