The Association of Black Students is protesting an incident at St. Louis’ Washington University in which dining hall workers were subjected to racial slurs and egg-throwing. The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Mar. 21 at the campus Bear’s Den dining hall.
Students reportedly climbed on tables, threw eggs throughout the dining hall, spit at each other and used racial slurs. Following an incident, the university’s Kappa Sigma Fraternity and Alpha Phi Sorority chapters have been temporarily suspended.
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According to the university’s Association of Black Students, the majority of the staff members in the dining hall that evening were people of color. The association demands that the two groups be banned from the school and that the students be expelled.
“Myself and other students, we talked to the dining workers,” Taylor Robinson, the president of the Association of Black Students and a junior studying anthropology, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “They serve us food, they ask us how we are, and we care about what happened to them. We could not believe that it was true.”
A sit-in was organized at the dining hall on Friday.
“There need to be repercussions to show that this will not be tolerated,” David Cook, the president of the local food workers union representing the workers, said.
He added that university officials are investigating the incident.
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In a statement, Julie Flory, a spokesperson for the university, said the private college does not divulge details regarding any particular incident or investigation involving students at the school or other community members.
“We are working directly with our students and other members of our community to address their concerns,” Flory said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
St. Louis Democratic state Sen. Karla May said she reached out to student advocates and campus leaders “to ensure steps are being taken to address these overt acts of racism.”
“The university needs to take action when things like this occur on campus,” Robinson added. “If they could do it to dining workers, who says they wouldn’t do it to a Black student?”
