Georgia Southern University student Courtney Schaefer (pictured) is facing severe backlash after she texted her future roommate a racial slur but blamed it on autocorrect
Screenshots have emerged of a white student at Georgia Southern University sending a racist text message to her black roommate with whom she was about to live.
The screenshots show that the white student, identified as Courtney Schaefer, and her roommate texted introductory hellos and each laughed about the fact that they accidentally called the other.
Not long after, Schaefer sent a text message about her roommate’s Instagram account, seemingly meant for their other roommate, in which she wrote: ‘Her insta looks pretty normal, not too n*****ish.’
Realizing she had made a mistake, Schaefer immediately apologizes, saying that she meant to write the word ‘triggerish’ but that her phone autocorrected it.
‘I meant to say triggerish, meaning like, you seemed really cool nothing that triggered a red flag! I’m so embarrassed I apologize,’ the text read.
Screenshots of the texts were shared by Dajah Morrison, who says she knows the victim, and they soon went viral on Facebook and Twitter.
‘Triggerish is not a word at all. The closest word to that is triggerfish. So for her to cover those things up, it just didn’t add up,’ Morrison toldWSAV.
Since the screenshots went viral, Schaefer appears to have deleted her social media accounts.
After texting introductions, Schaefer appeared to write to their other roommate: ‘Her insta looks pretty normal not too n*****ish’. She then quickly apologizes saying that she meant to write the word ‘triggerish’ but her phone autocorrected the word
According to WJCL, the athletic director of GSU was first made aware of the comments via email. In turn, the athletic director notified head officials.
On Friday morning, GSU interim president Shelley Nickel released a statement.
‘The University shares the hurt our community has expressed following the use of a racial slur exhibited in a screenshot shared on social media,’ she wrote.
‘The use of such racist comments is offensive and unacceptable and in no way reflects the attitudes or values of Georgia Southern University. To be clear, there is no place for bigotry or racism on our campuses.’
No mention was made of whether or not Schaefer would be facing disciplinary action for her comments.
On Friday morning, GSU interim president Shelley Nickel released a statement saying that ‘there is no place for bigotry or racism on our campuses’
No mention was made of whether or not Schaefer would be facing disciplinary action for her comments. Pictured: Georgia Southern University
Leon Bowles, a senior at GSU, told campus paper The George-Anne that he wasn’t surprised by Schaefer’s texts.
‘I think I speak for the entire African-American population of Georgia Southern when I say that while I am not surprised, I am angry and disappointed,’ he said.
‘The text itself was cause enough for outrage, but the pathetic attempt at an excuse and apology, was a flippant insult to her intelligence.’
The incident draws parallels to one that occurred in January of this year, in which Georgia State University freshman Natalia Martinez used the n-word in a social media post.
Martinez was suspended from the school’s soccer team and, after a petition to expel her from the school garnered more than 1,000 signatures, she voluntarily withdrew from the university.