*A black student at Georgia Southern University thought she’d reach out to her future roommate before their move in date, only to receive a return text meant for someone else, containing the n-word.
Courtney Schaefer, a white student at Georgia Southern, has deleted her social media accounts after a screenshot of the text exchange went viral. During their initial exchange of pleasantries, Schaefer texted by mistake: “Her insta looks pretty normal, not too nig**rish.”
Upon discovering that the text went to her new roommate, she blamed the slur on auto correct, saying she meant to say “triggerish.”
“I meant to say triggerish, meaning like, you seemed really cool nothing that triggered a red flag! I’m so embarrassed I apologize,” the follow-up text reads.
View below:
She blamed her racism on auto correct wow pic.twitter.com/TaLt30Fe5Z
— Extraordinary low IQ person (@Joe_SBA) July 20, 2018
But folks soon pointed out that “triggerish” auto corrects into “triggerfish,” not “nig**rish.”
Dajah Morrison, a friend of the victim, told WSAV: “Triggerish is not a word at all. The closest word to that is triggerfish. So for her to cover those things up, it just didn’t add up.”
After the story received national attention, GSU interim president Shelley Nickel released the following statement:
The University shares the hurt our community has expressed following the use of a racial slur exhibited in a screenshot shared on social media. The use of such racist comments is offensive and unacceptable and in no way reflects the attitudes or values of Georgia Southern University. To be clear, there is no place for bigotry or racism on our campuses.
Georgia Southern is built upon the values of integrity, civility and kindness and these principles should be reflected in everything we do. We stand for awareness, acceptance and tolerance and expect nothing less from our students, faculty, staff and community.
As students return to our campuses for the new academic year, we are committed to reinforcing our values and encouraging an inclusive atmosphere that enables our students to thrive.
The statement made no mention of any disciplinary action for Courtney Schaefer, but Aspen Heights Statesboro said on Twitter that they “addressed it with the resident in question.” While they said they take the issue seriously, they added they could not discuss resident issues publicly.
“Hopefully they’ll be professional about it,” Morrision said of GS administration. “And handle everything correctly but I’m just hoping they shut that down and show the other students that we don’t play with that. We’re here to learn.”
Watch WSAV’s report about the incident below: