Racist note threatening black student at US college found to be hoax

Student behind note said he wanted to highlight racism at campus

A racist threat that sparked a series of protests across St Olaf College last month was found to be a hoax, the school said on Wednesday.

President of the school, David R Anderson, informed the students in a message that a student had confessed to a “fabricated strategy to draw attention to concerns about campus climate.”

“This was not a genuine threat,” Anderson wrote. “We’re confident that there is no ongoing threat from this incident to individuals or the community as a whole.” Anderson said incidents similar to this were being investigated by the college.

The president, however, did not reveal the name of the student, citing that the “federal privacy laws prohibit the college from disclosing the identity of the author of that note and disclosing the actions taken by the college now that we know the author’s identity.”



The said note, tucked onto the windshield of her car, was found by Samantha Wells, a black female student, April 29. The note consequently led to a rally on the same night, followed by protests. But the revelation that the threat was ‘fake’ shocked more than providing any relief to the students.

Samantha, a featured speaker during the rallies this month, had posted snaps on social media of the note that read: “I am so glad you are leaving soon. One less [N-word] this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up.”

According to Northfield police, Samantha had previously refused to file a report in an e-mail to the lead investigator. Since she was planning to leave for Europe, in June, after her graduation, she said she “would rather not spend the end of my college career and my last month and a half in the US worrying about an investigation.” She destroyed the note instead “because she didn’t want to look at it or have it anywhere near her.”

On Wednesday, she posted the president’s note and said: “So, it looks like something made its way back to me in the investigation. I will be saying it was a hoax. I don’t care. There is nothing more that I can do.”

“I think it’s disturbing that it was written deliberately, just to stir up the campus,” said a sophomore, Ben Parsell. When asked if the hoax would make the college administration doubt the next victim, he said he didn't “think the campus would let that happen.”

Daniel Katuka, another black student, said that although he hadn’t experienced any racism on campus, he appreciated how the St Olaf community united “in a positive way”. “It’s started something good,” he said.



Meanwhile, the Northfield Police Chief, Monte Nelson, said his department did not receive any information over the authenticity of the note. He said he was unsure if the law allowed him to charge someone over a hoax threat. He added that while this case was closed, other incidents of racist crimes were under investigation. “I expect that will stay open for quite a while,” the chief said. “We’ve got to work with the school as it pursues its own investigation.”

This article originally appeared on The Star Tribune.