1. Late On Friday Night, Freshman Student Kara Nelson Posts Video With Racist Comments To Her “Finsta” Account
Late on Friday, January 19th, Kara Nelson, a freshman student, posted a video to the Instagram story of her “finsta” account. Finsta is short-hand for fake Instagram accounts, which are usually private accounts where individuals post personal content for their close friends. In the video, the student admits calling her RA a racial slur while being intoxicated.
2. Video Quickly Goes Viral On Twitter And Is Reported To School
In the early hours of Saturday, January 20th, the video quickly went viral on the Twitter feed of @loganmckey, reaching 306 retweets and 292 favorites by January 22nd. By 9 AM Saturday morning, Vice President of Campus Life Penny Rue sent out a campus-wide email which said that the school was alerted through the bias-reporting system. Rue closed by saying “Racist and discriminatory behaviors are not tolerated at Wake Forest. We are taking this matter seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation.”
3. By Sunday, Nelson No Longer Enrolled At Wake Forest
In an email sent on Sunday, January 21st at 9:23 PM, President Hatch stated that “As of today, the student who appeared in the video is no longer enrolled at Wake Forest. Due to Federal privacy laws, we will not be able to share further information about this matter.”
4. Wake Forest Review Editorial Board Officially Condemns Actions of Former Student
Wake Forest Review Editorial Board said:
The Wake Forest Review unequivocally condemns this act of explicit and heinous racism and any act of racism occurring on or off campus. The term used by the student is one fraught with history, demeaning, and quite frankly, disgusting and dehumanizing. The Wake Forest Review furthermore stands in firm support of the administration, who according to President Nathan O. Hatch’s university-wide statement, is “no longer enrolled at Wake Forest.”
You can read the full statement here.