Two University of Connecticut students have been arrested after they were filmed trading racial slurs back and forth in what appeared to be a vulgar word game. The video was posted online and sparked protests on campus.

Jarred Karal and Ryan Mucaj, both 21, were arrested and charged with “ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality, or race,” UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz announced on Monday as students and staff alike demanded “accountability.”

The two white students had played a game where they uttered vulgar words at increasing volume as they walked through the campus parking lot, progressing to racial slurs as they ran out of profanities.

@UConn@UConnHuskies This is what your students of color hear when they open their windows pic.twitter.com/n5iUt2yk6W — D🎒 (@Heavy_D18) October 11, 2019

They were filmed from a nearby residence saying “n****r” back and forth at each other five times; the slur was barely audible in the recording, but became a major campus issue after it was posted on Twitter.

Students gathered to protest just hours before the arrest was announced, insisting “it’s more than just a word.” The student newspaper excoriated administrators for not responding more quickly to the 11-second video, which was posted on October 11. Their rage was compounded by another alleged racial discrimination incident at a campus fraternity party in which a student claimed two members called her a racial slur.

The UConn chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has demanded that the fraternity is disbanded. Additionally, the school must update its hate speech code, hire new black members of staff, and adopt a mandatory diversity course, lest it “create a culture in which racism is tolerated and normalized,” the group warned in a letter published in the student paper. UConn president Thomas Katsouleas has hurried to appease the angry students, putting out a hiring call for a diversity officer.

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Karl and Mucaj face a maximum $50 fine, 30 days in jail, or both under state law, and the school is looking into whether they violated its code of conduct, which could see them expelled.

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