STILLWATER, Okla. — For the second time in a week, students at a northeast Oklahoma college became outraged at social media posts featuring white students wearing blackface. This time, though, students responded with signs and stood outside of an administrative building in protest of the incidents.

Students stood silent with the word “unheard” written on duct tape covering their lips as Martin Luther King Jr.’s well known “I Have A Dream” speech played over a speaker while hundreds of students walked past, many stopping to take photos or join in.

“As a community, we don’t feel heard,” said junior Terrance Williams, 21, vice president of the African American Student Association. “We are tired of offensive public posts online. An apology by the university and the people involved is not enough. We need to see some kind of action and that is why we are pushing for cultural competency courses and training for faculty, staff and students.”

Sunday night brought Oklahoma State University students criticizing a post on Snapchat from Kandice Burgess, a marketing major and business school student ambassador at the university, that showed her wearing a substance on her face similar to blackface with the caption “When he says he only likes black girls.”

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a group of OSU students posted a photo on Instagram with two of the women wearing similar substances on their face. Many have described the substances as a cosmetic mud mask or face mask to improve skin. 

The first incident was met with critical response from OSU and President Burns Hargis and promises of taking “educational steps” and training for the women who posted the photo. That group of students apologized for their actions, and Burgess took a similar stance on Facebook after her Snapchat photo was met with criticism.

“I am deeply sorry for those that I have offended. My intentions were not at all to be racist. For anyone who knows me, you know I am not racist,” the statement reads. “I had no idea about the incident with the other two girls and their face masks. That is just unfortunate timing. As for the Business school, first thing tomorrow morning, I will resign. I don’t want people to think that that is what the Eastin Center and Career Services is about. They have the best of intentions and want to motivate everyone.”

Similar instances of racially insensitive social media posts featuring high school and college students in perceived blackface within the past year have caused a stir among students across the country, leaving colleges and universities administrators in a difficult position.

Hargis walked to work Monday morning and was met by 70 students holding signs outside his office at the university’s Whitehurst Hall. He released a statement Monday afternoon saying he had talked with some of the students that have voiced concern over the recent incidents.

“I met with Oklahoma State University African American student leaders today to discuss recent racially insensitive posts on social media,” the statement reads. “These students are understandably frustrated and concerned, and so am I. On behalf of the OSU family, I apologize for the hurt these incidents have caused.

“…We are working with the students involved in these incidents to help them understand the consequences of their inappropriate actions. We all must learn from these incidents and bring positive change to our campus. We had meaningful dialogue today and we will continue to improve OSU’s efforts to be a more inclusive university.”

Hargis also tweeted a reminder of OSU’s “Cowboy Community Standards,” which include a section on social justice. That section reads that students should aspire to, follow and promote by “act(ing) to discourage and challenge those whose actions may be harmful to and/or diminish the worth of others.”

Ahrens writes for the Stillwater, Oklahoma News Press.