Cardinal Newman expels student for demeaning African Americans in ‘racist’ video
A student at Columbia’s Cardinal Newman School was expelled on Sunday after the school says the student was seen in a video that was demeaning to African Americans.
The school announced the expulsion Sunday night, hours after principal Rob Loia received a copy of the video.
The Catholic school did not disclose details of the video’s “racially-charged conversation,” what was said or who else may have been in the video, other than to say it did not threaten violence. But Loia said the video was “demeaning to the African American community and offensive to all of us.”
“This former student’s action was not representative of our Catholic community and is not acceptable,” Loia said. “We have no tolerance for any words or actions that are racist in nature, and we will continue to enforce this.”
The unidentified student was immediately expelled after their parents were notified.
The student’s expulsion comes after two days of at times violent demonstrations in Columbia protesting the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck while he was on the ground. The protests have led to more than 50 arrests since Saturday.
In August, two Cardinal Newman students were expelled after a 16-year-old posted an online video making racist statements and threatening to “shoot up” the school. Loia promised at the time to increase the school’s diversity efforts and ensure students feel safe on campus.
On Sunday, the principal said the school’s diversity task force would meet this week to “discuss how we can continue to stand in solidarity with our African American community members and work to find reconciliation and promote justice.”
Also on Sunday, S.C. Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Guglielmone released a statement on Floyd’s killing, saying, “Let us pray for George Floyd and his family. Let us pray for those who are victims of racism. Let us pray for those who are suffering because of the riots. Let us pray for peace, justice and respect for all life.”
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