Written by: Yurielle Menard/Contributing Writer
Students across campus were alarmed when a hoax image of the University’s homepage went viral on social media last week.
The post’s headline read that FIU’s police department trains dogs to hunt minorities, black and other untouchables.
Someone used coding to change their own screen of the webpage, took a photo of it and shared it on Yeti, according to Maydel Santana-Bravo, Media Relations director. Yeti is a smartphone app where students upload an image to their college campus feed anonymously.
“We’re assuming that something like that is at play here, where the headline was changed on the person’s screen, a quick photo and then off we go,” said Santana-Bravo. “It’s difficult to say exactly how that happened because, obviously, we don’t know.”
Santana-Bravo said the website was not hacked. The University quickly sent out a statement on social media that says the image was manipulated and that the headline does not reflect the values and beliefs of the University.
“I felt that the response was very weak. I don’t believe that the Media Relations team went about it the correct way,” said Esi Fynn-Obeng, African Student Organization president.
“[This] happens, but how are we going about it? How are we going to address the situation and make sure that the students are not disgruntled?” said Fynn-Obeng, a senior communication arts and sociology double major.
The University needs to be more vigilant and pay closer attention to social media, according to Santana-Bravo. She said it’s a matter of being aware to explain and counter future events.
The University found out about the image after someone shared it with Media Relations. It is not known who the prankster is.
“The website was fine all along with the legitimate image and the legitimate headline. Everything was fine,” Santana-Bravo said. “It’s pretty impossible to tell who did it.”
It is not something that should be taken seriously, she said.
Students question whether the University’s statement made through social media was a way of silencing them.
“Why is it that I can get a bunch of emails about parking and traffic, but you couldn’t send an email to the population to let them know that ‘we’re sorry,’” said Fynn-Obeng. “It seems as though there was no effort put into it.”
She said that if the University does not show a concern for black students and the black community, then it goes against its value of being world’s ahead.
“FIU has failed the black community in all aspects, whether it’s supporting, being proactive when there are tragedies and topics going on in the black community, giving us our space to be able to voice our opinions,” said Rashaad Perry-Patterson, Black Student Union enrichment coordinator.
Perry-Patterson, a junior political science major, said he doesn’t believe the University necessarily embraces being world’s ahead and that the black community at FIU feels marginalized.
The Black Student Union and the Coalition of Black Organizational Leaders plan to meet with administration to discuss their position on the issue. They will ask for funding for the African and African Diaspora Studies program, mentorships, workshops and for the student organizations, according to Perry-Patterson.
“You have to think about the lives that are at stake. This is not a play situation. These are lives, religions and communities at stake,” Perry-Patterson said.
Additional reporting by Camila Fernandez and Krystal Pugh
Image by Michael Himbeault, courtesy of Creative Commons
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