Racist Snapchat Sparks Outrage on SUNY Plattsburgh

For the last week, the small campus of SUNY Plattsburgh, which lies one hundred miles to the east of St. Lawrence, has been rocked by student-led protests. The protests began in reaction to a Snapchat image sent out by a SUNY Plattsburgh student on February 14. The image, originally shared in a Snapchat group but later distributed to the whole campus, included the caption, “We lynching n*****s tonight.”

The individual who sent the Snapchat to a group of four other Plattsburgh students was soon thereafter chastised by a member of the group, who has an African American mother. The student screenshotted the image, and then began sending it to others on the campus.

After protests ensued on the evening of Thursday, February 15, in response to the image, a forum was organized by students on Friday, February 16, to address students’ concerns and outline their desires. The Student Association, which led the forum, released a series of demands during the event, requesting that senior administrative officials step down due to their inefficacy in addressing racially-fueled crimes, both past and present, on the SUNY Plattsburgh Campus.

Although the Snapchat image triggered the protests, students are adamant that their anger comes from far more than just a caption on a social media post. Rather, many students of color are emphasizing that their anger is caused by having to endure continual attacks because of their race, with little to no aid from the school’s administration.

As the school’s Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. J.W. Wiley stated in an interview with The Press Republican, “From racial epithets yelled from cars, to graffiti displaying dysfunctional language, to trucks with confederate flags menacing students by hurling obscenities as they drive up Rugar Street, the students accused the administration of inadequate leadership when it came to racial incidents.”

Wiley is one of the administrators that students are demanding step down, in addition to SUNY Plattsburgh President John Etting, Provost Michael Morgan, and Director of Student Conduct Larry Allen. Students are alleging that each of the named administrative officials have not done their part in protecting students of color on campus.

As Ayesha Joseph ’19 told NCPR, “Students of color, year after year, feel like they’re not safe and nothing’s been done. Our administrators sit there and they keep talking to us and nothing has been done.”

Other students are defending the administrators and their efforts, however. In a lengthy post published to her Facebook page on Monday, February 19, Paige Myers, a senior at SUNY Plattsburgh, stated, “To be completely honest, I’ve personally watched as this Snapchat thing with Maria has unraveled, and it was definitely a problem that I felt should be dealt with seriously and swiftly to ensure the safety and comfort of others. However, the mood on this campus has quickly changed over the past few days from people protesting in the streets and blocking traffic, personally telling me and others I am ‘white and privileged’ so they ‘don’t want me to even bother acting like I care,’ students showing up to faculty’s doorsteps, and then calling for the resignation or firing of administration WHO ARE TRYING THEIR BEST.”

The administration has made concrete efforts to alter the climate on campus. Soon after the distributor of the Snapchat image was pinpointed, she was removed from SUNY Plattsburgh. In addition, the administrators have altered the student handbook, and they have created multiple forums for students to share their feelings constructively.

Despite the administration’s efforts, though, in the days since the protests began, students have become increasingly fervent in their demands for the administrative officials to step down. An anonymous letter has been circulated across the campus alleging that Wiley has not only not done enough to protect students of color, but that he has also sexually harassed students. No one has come forward to substantiate the claims.

A resolution to the events on SUNY Plattsburgh’s campus will likely not come easily, yet students are hopeful that their efforts will result in a campus climate that is safer for students of color and all marginalized peoples.