Students attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst received a shock when several of the Black Student organizations received several anonymous emails filled with hate, The Hill reports.

UMass President Marty Meehan announced in a letter that the school has hired a cybersecurity firm to look into the origin of the hateful messages. Meehan condemned the messages, telling the students “blatantly racist e-mails recently sent to Black student organizations at UMass Amherst and other deplorable acts of anti-Black hatred are appalling and disgusting.”

On Sept. 23, Vice Chancellor @NefWalker emailed the campus community to address an anti-Black racist email sent to Black-centered student groups, outlining a multi-unit collaborative investigation into the hateful acts & opportunities to support students impacted. (thread: 1/14) pic.twitter.com/R2AOKuoyJj

— UMass Amherst (@UMassAmherst) September 27, 2021

“While UMass Amherst is still trying to identify the source of these messages, we do know that the messages in no way reflect the true character of the UMass community and we have zero tolerance for such behavior,” Meehan said in a statement.

The emails, which were addressed from an unofficial organization called the "UMass Coalition for a Better Society," hurled racial stereotypes and harmful epithets at several of the Black groups in an attempt to belittle them to Black caricatures, reports WWLP.

“We look down upon you, we instantly know in all manners from your language which most of you still speak in some broken form of Ebonics or to ghetto-speak to where your from (third-world sewers in America bought and paid for by the u.s taxpayer) to how you live (like hoodrats) to how you appear (fro hair, big lips, black skin) you are different,” the letter read in part.

The university's chancellor, Kumble R. Subbaswamy, also acknowledged the messages in a letter to the students. According to the university's Twitter account, the school has announced a plan to promote diversity and inclusion through several initiatives.

“While we are mindful of the challenges of determining the source of anonymous emails such as these, we are confident that Stroz Friedberg [Digital Forensic], with its extensive expertise and technical capacity, will methodically follow every lead in pursuit of the contemptible individual or individuals responsible,” Subbaswamy wrote.

"We will also fight back against bigotry and intolerance with a series of educational opportunities and action steps to promote understanding and an ongoing commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion," Subbaswamy continued.

The UMass Black Student Union (BSU) expressed disbelief in an Instagram post, calling out the university for taking a month to respond to the incident.

“The university’s lengthy response time to racial incidents compared to their rapid response to non-racial incidents is not reflective of a university that claims to be ‘committed in policy, principle, and practice to maintaining an environment which prohibits discriminatory behavior and provides equal opportunity for all persons,’” the BSU said.

University-of-Massachusetts

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