Students protest new threats posted on Yik Yak, this time at Lewis & Clark

Caleb Diehl | Lewis & Clark College

Correction: An earlier version reported that the Black Student Union organized the rally.

After an anonymous person posted threatening racist comments on Yik Yak Tuesday, students at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., rallied on campus grounds Wednesday morning, both in solidarity with black students who feel unsafe, and to demand the administration take action.

About 200 students huddled on a main thoroughfare between the library and a key academic building, forcing people to step over them to get to class.

The informal group of students who organized the rally encouraged others to skip class and also led a discussion about racism on campus.

The Yik Yak commenter wrote: “black people think just cause their ancestors are slaves they deserve more…Well in that case, let’s give them something to whine about #Bringbackslavery,” and, “I just want to hang you ignorant black people.”

Officials at Lewis & Clark dispatched its Bias Assessment Response Team to investigate the posts, and contacted the Portland Police.

Yik Yak has increasingly drawn scrutiny for racist posts on other college campuses. On Nov. 9, two 19-year-old students were arrested for posting death threats targeted toward black students at the University of Missouri.



RELATED: Recap of Univ. of Missouri social media death threats

One, Northwest Missouri State University student Connor Stottlemyre, 19, was arrested on suspicion of making a terrorist threat after he allegedly posted a threat on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak that read, "I'm going to shoot any black people tomorrow, so be ready," reported USA TODAY.

He was arrested at his dormitory.

In a separate incident, Hunter Park, of Lake St. Louis, Mo., was taken into custody at a residence hall at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, in Rolla, Mo., where he is a student.



RELATED: Racist Yik Yak posts considered 'hate speech' by Syracuse

“Enough is enough,” says Ryan Seed, a member of Lewis & Clark's Black Student Union. “We can’t be students and at the same time have our lives threatened.”

On Tuesday night, The Black Student Union drafted a set of demands, including a timeline for active recruitment of faculty of color, more authors of color in the freshmen core class curriculum, and financial resources for students of color and students of low socioeconomic status.

Dissatisfied with administrators' lax response to its past demands, Seed says, the BSU included specific time frames for meeting the goals.

“We are working closely with the Black Student Union and thank those students for their leadership during these troubling times,” Dean of Students Anna Gonzalez wrote in a message to the student body. “Hate has no place at Lewis & Clark. We must work together to ensure an inclusive experience for all members of our community and maintain a campus where all are free to learn in a safe and welcoming environment.”

Lewis & Clark’s president, Barry Glassner, is currently away in Washington, D.C., on college business.

Last year, another racist Yik Yak post prompted administrators to enforce tighter security measures on dorm swipe card access.

“Especially with everything going on at Mizzou and nationwide," Seed says, "we thought this would be a perfect time to have our demands met.”



Caleb Diehl is a student at Lewis & Clark College and a USA TODAY College breaking news correspondent.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.