Following the discovery of an online threat against students of color at Charlottesville High School last Wednesday, all Charlottesville City Public Schools were closed on Thursday and Friday as the Charlottesville Police Department worked to determine the legitimacy of the threat. The University, located only a few miles away from Charlottesville High School, did not send out an email alert or a statement to students.
The threat was made on the web forum 4chan, which is a site frequented by white supremacists. The post threatened an “ethnic cleansing” — including racial slurs and threats to kill African- American and Hispanic students at Charlottesville High School and advising white students to stay home from school.
A 17-year-old suspect was arrested early last Friday morning and charged with with threatening to commit serious bodily harm, as well as a harassment charge. The suspect, who lived in the area, was not actually student at Charlottesville High School as the threat stated. Students returned to Charlottesville High School Monday.
On Monday, University President Jim Ryan released a statement over social media in response to the threat, thanking those involved on all levels of the incident.
“To the teachers, administrators, police, and community leaders who have kept our children safe—thank you,” Ryan said in a social media statement. “You have made it clear, once again, that this community welcomes everyone, that we care about everyone, and that there is no place for hate.”
Ryan acknowledged the “racially charged” language made in the threat, noting that it targeted specific ethnicities and racial groups at Charlottesville High School.
“We are, and always will be, in this together,” Ryan said.
According to University Spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn, the University was aware of the threat before Ryan’s statement was released but did not email students about the threat.
“The University maintains close relationships with its partners in local law enforcement and was monitoring the situation,” De Bruyn said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily.
According to the University’s Policy Directory, the University only sends an emergency notification if there is an immediate threat to the health and safety of those on University Grounds.
A “Timely Warning” can only be issued after a Clery Act crime is reported in a Clery Reportable Location — which is any property leased, owned, or rented by the University — when the perpetrator has not been apprehended and when, because of the crime, the threat to the “campus community” is serious or ongoing. All Universities that receive Federal financial aid must report Clery Act crimes.
In response to the threat, the Charlottesville High School Black Student Union led a walkout of more than 100 students Monday “calling on the Charlottesville City Schools to address racism in all its forms,” according to a statement from Zyahna Bryant and Althea Laughon-Worrell, students at Charlottesville High School, who organized the walkout.
“We chose a walkout because we’ve been to the school board before and asked for change and we haven’t really seen any action,” Laughon-Worrell said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily.
In a press release, the Black Student Union released a list of 10 demands, including the hiring of more Black teachers, racial bias and cultural sensitivity training for all School Resource Officers and a call for Charlottesville City Schools to “denounce and call out racism against Black and Brown students.”
“Student groups at UVA have been raising similar concerns on campus as the ones we’ve raised today,” Bryant said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily. “The groups have stood in solidarity and have offered support with direct actions.”
The students’ demands have been endorsed by several University groups including the Black Student Alliance, the Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society and Students United.
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