University faces calls to dump student who sent racist and anti-gay Tinder messages
A university is facing calls to discipline a student who sent racist and homophobic messages to another student on Tinder.
The University of Alabama student, Kyle Harcourt, is being investigated for the messages he sent to 20-year-old Emi Miller (pictured below).
One message read: “You also think Hillary Clinton is good for America and that faggot queerosexuals should have rights?”
Another referred to a photo of the student with a black female friend saying: “Ain’t no one like a nigger lovin white girl”.
Miller, who doesn’t attend the university told the Tab: “When I first saw the message, asking about the African American man in my profile picture and calling me a ‘n***** lovin’ white girl,’ I was initially confused and shocked. Confused, because I don’t have any photos with an African American man on my profile.
“I later figured out that he was referring to a picture I have with my black female roommate from a snow day, where she’s wearing a hat.”
Miller added that she was “shocked because those words were so vulgar and unnecessary. I screenshotted that message immediately because I was just thinking, ‘this isn’t okay, I have to do something about this.’”
The Tinder match happened on 9 March and the messages came shortly after.
The UA junior, Kyle Harcourt, sent a later message reading: “I come from Alabama where the only place we like our n****rs is hangin from trees.”
Harcourt was also a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity, but the national body for the frat said he had been suspended in January.
Sigma Pi tweeted: “The individual who sent those messages is no longer a member of Sigma Pi. We condemn all intolerant behavior & attitudes.”
The university tweeted back to Miller to say it had begun a “disciplinary review through the Office of Student Conduct.”
Miller told the Tab: “The feedback has been mixed. Of course, as with a lot of these situations, there has been some negative feedback, but not as much as much as one would expect.
“So many people have been really lovely and supportive, including members of Sigma Pi, his former fraternity, and other UA students as well. It can be a little overwhelming.
“I think UA needs to send a strong message about how they handle racism and homophobia from a student. I would like to see a public statement from the school and I would like him to be suspended or expelled.”
Anti-LGBT attacks have increased since the election of Donald Trump. A petition is calling for him not to sign any executive orders that will discriminate against LGBT people. You can sign the petition here.
Students at a UK university recently led protests after far-right figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos was nominated for a prestigious university position. They raised his links to racist and transphobic abuse campaigns on social media in the past.
