Over the past few days, thousands of Stanford students are calling for the expulsion of fellow student Chaze Vinci on account of his social media posts.
Stanford students and many internet users alike were shocked upon seeing Chaze’s social media posts over the past few days. The University’s President Marc Tessier-Lavigne called the posts “ugly” and disturbing” in his response to the controversy.
The said posts have gone viral on the internet and there has been mounting pressure on the university’s administration to expel Chaze. Here’s everything we know!
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Who is Chaze Vinci?
Chaze is a 2023 batch student from Stanford who is currently studying Public Policy and History.
His profile on Muckrack states that he has experience in running government and political campaigns. He is also interested in tech policy, constitutional law, inequality, sustainability, entrepreneurship, as well as politics.
He has also written a number of Op-Ed pieces for The Stanford Daily. His recent article in the publication, posted 10 months ago, was titled “Proposition 24 puts power back in the hands of consumers.”
Two of his other contributions for the outlet are titled “Big Tech v. Democracy,” and “To advance the youth vote, Trump must overcome generational realignment.”
Besides his academic and journalistic work, Chaze has also been involved in other activities such as participating in University politics. Associated Students of Stanford University’s website states that he was a candidate for the position of Senator for the uni’s Undergraduate Senate.
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Standford students horrified by classmate’s social media posts
Over the past weekend, Chaze posted a series of photos on his Instagram story as well as Twitter, that featured “violent imagery” directed toward an African-American student and a faculty member.
While Chaze’s Instagram account has been deleted now, screenshots of the posts show an image of a gorilla placed alongside photos of two African-American students. The text read, “spot the difference.” The post contained more offensive lines as well.
Chaze is also accused of posting a picture of the former Stanford student Brock Turner, who has been sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting another student.
Another post by Chaze saw an image of David Palumbo-Liu, the Professor and Director of Comparative Literature at Stanford, with red marks drawn on him. The image also depicted a guillotine placed next to him.
Every post created by the student have horrific and highly offensive imagery in them.
In response to the controversy, one of the university’s student organisation named Black @ Stanford started a change.org petition calling for the administration to hold Chaze accountable.
So far, over 3,700 people have signed the petition which has been created with the goal of getting 5,000 signatures.
Reacting to the issue, a student named Destiny Kelly said, “He’s become an extreme threat.”
Another student named Lilly Towe said: “The fact that we have to be responsible for our own safety at an institution that hires its own police department, that just really hurts.”
University’s President reacts to controversy
In a mail sent out on Monday (August 30), president Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced that Chaze was banned from “entering Stanford’s campus or facilities.”
The email characterized the ban as a “first step” from the University. Howerver, Tessier-Lavigne did not mention what other steps the administration is planned on taking.
Responding to Chaze’s post, the president said, “Threats to members of the Stanford community, whether those threats are direct or implied, are unacceptable.”
He also assured the students that the University is “actively working on several fronts to address what has occurred, and to take actions to ensure the safety of our community.”
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