A 2018 video of a Syracuse University freshman field hockey player repeatedly saying the N-word has surfaced.
The student protest group #NotAgainSU posted an Instagram Live video, which was originally recorded when the player, Charlotte de Vries, was a junior at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. The video was apparently so offensive that the backlash reportedly caused de Vries to lose her athletic scholarship with the University of North Carolina, causing her to commit to SU a year later in March 2019, according to the school’s student newspaper, The Daily Orange.
The video surfaced a day after #NotAgainSU protesters were handed interim suspensions from the administration after occupying the school’s Crouse-Hinds Hall administrative building to continue its months-long protest against reports of racism and anti-Semitism on campus.
More than 30 students were reportedly suspended for violating the school’s campus disruption policy on Tuesday morning for staying in Crouse-Hinds after its closing at 9 p.m, The Daily Orange reported Tuesday.
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“As a high school student, Charlotte used racist, hurtful and offensive language in a video that was posted on social media,” said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, in a statement. “She has demonstrated deep and genuine remorse and has undergone and continues to participate in educational training on diversity and cultural sensitivity.”
The video of de Vries has gotten more than 1.6 million views on Twitter since being posted in 2018. Shortly after it originally surfaced, she issued an apology.
“I realize that such words are offensive, uncalled for and, regardless of the situation, I should have known better,” she wrote in a statement via Conestoga High School’s newspaper. “I have begun to have conversations about how to move forward, and how to develop better sensitivity and understanding of the experiences and feelings of others.”
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More than 300 SU faculty, staff, alumni and students signed a letter Tuesday opposing the university’s temporary suspension of protest organizers.
“This (suspension) is an action of retaliation for peaceful protest, which the university pledged it would not do in Fall 2019,” the letter reads, in part.
They also took to Instagram to present the letter, captioning the post, in-part: “As the administration evidently continues to lack transparency, it’s paramount that we provide you all with factual information. Share this and make sure no misinformation is being spread!”
