Vanderbilt investigating racist email sent to students, faculty

Vanderbilt University is investigating a racist email promoting white supremacy that was sent out Monday night to some students and faculty.

Vanderbilt Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Wente and Interim Vice Chancellor for Equity Diversity and Inclusion Tina Smith condemned the message in a statement, calling it “deeply disturbing and hurtful,” and said that the university’s IT department is working to identify the source.

The email, a screenshot of which was shared by the Vanderbilt NAACP on Twitter, includes vulgar language, including the n-word, and promotes “White pride at Vanderbilt and worldwide!”

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The organization said the email was a sign of “how racism and hatred is ingrained into Vanderbilt culture.”

“The white nationalist email blast that was sent out to many Black Students tonight is yet ANOTHER reprehensible display of how racism and hatred is ingrained into Vanderbilt culture,” the NAACP wrote on Twitter. “Now let’s hope Vanderbilt University actually takes action.”

The white nationalist email blast that was sent out to many Black Students tonight is yet ANOTHER reprehensible display of how racism and hatred is ingrained into Vanderbilt culture pic.twitter.com/BYJnFncRyc

— Vanderbilt NAACP (@VandyNAACP) July 31, 2018

The email is designed to look like an official university email, but school officials said the IT department believes it was “an external attack designed to look like an official Vanderbilt email.”

Please be aware that Vanderbilt IT is actively working to determine the source of and stop the dissemination of this email. The fact that the communication was NOT an official Vanderbilt University email or correspondence does not diminish the pain that it has caused.

— Vanderbilt University (@VanderbiltU) July 31, 2018

“The language and sentiment contained in this message are abhorrent and antithetical to our values as a university community,” the official statement said. “We condemn this message and the tactics of sowing distrust, division and hatred that it employs. Equity, diversity and inclusion are bedrock values of the Vanderbilt community.”