UMD chancellor addresses allegations of student racism on Facebook

Administrators at the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus are still dealing with race issues that went viral there last week.

Students and faculty gathered for a forum and informal discussions this week, after two white students allegedly wrote racially offensive comments on their Facebook pages last week.

UMD's Chancellor Kathryn Martin says the school needs to educate students to stop posting racist comments on social networking sites.

"We need to do a better job of working with students so that they understand the implications of not only their actions, but their words -- and that the words are with them forever," said Martin. "This may have career implications as they go forever and graduate from a university."

Martin's remarks come after an African American student reported that two white students posted racial slurs about her on their Facebook walls. The online comments were spread widely around campus.

Martin said the university has a "zero tolerance" policy on racist speech and has investigated the complaint.

"We don't tolerate this," she said. "It was a despicable incident."

Martin declined to elaborate on what steps the university might take against the two students accused of posting the racist comments.

The chancellor also defended the university from the accusations made by some students and faculty that the college has a widespread problem with racism. The Duluth campus has about 130 African American students, out of a total enrollment of 11,000 students.

"We have had instances of inappropriate use of language, instances of inappropriate words being used, but we do not have a culture here that tolerates racism," she said.

Martin said it's not possible for school officials to routinely police all social networking sites. She said the university relies on students and others to notify school officials about racist statements on websites.

"Anything that's said on Facebook that's called to our attention, and has taken advantage of the use of our server, will be appropriately reviewed as we become aware of it," she said.

Martin attended a university forum Thursday to address student concerns. She said she plans to continue to discuss the incident with students.

"Students need to understand the implications of this type of verbal action much better than they do today," she said.