A University of Rhode Island student is facing disciplinary action after sending a Miami Dolphins player a racist message on Instagram.
Emmanuel Ogbah, a 27-year-old defensive end for the Dolphins, took to Twitter to share a screenshot of a DM he received from a user named Nick Mongeau, hours after the Dolphins 23-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
"I normally ignore stuff like this but this is uncalled for!," he captioned the screenshot of the text message. "F*cking half [n-word] you and your band of [n-word] teammates are f*cking trash," the message read.
The tweet instantly went viral and internet sleuths did not waste any time in identifying Mr. Mongeau as a student at the University of Rhode Island. The university was immediately flooded with messages, drawing their attention to Mongeau's racist text.
University Releases Statement, Says Student 'Under Review'
Not long after, the university's President, Marc Parlange, released a lengthy statement without naming Mongeau, saying the student in question was under review.
"I write tonight to underscore for every member of our community that the University of Rhode Island is an institution committed to rejecting racism in all its forms," Parlange said in the statement.
"The University learned today of an offensive, unacceptable and racist comment posted to social media earlier today, allegedly by one of our students. This language is abhorrent and has no place in a community that is deeply committed to anti-racism," he added.
"Given the significance of this issue, the University has taken immediate action and referred the matter to the University student conduct process for review."
Parlange also noted that since it was a student conduct process, the university is prohibited by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act from releasing the individual's name.
