Dear Williams Community,
We write with unsettling news.
As you may have seen in the media, Black college and high school students around the country have been receiving racist and disparaging text messages over the last few days. Late last night, the college received an advisory message from the FBI regarding those messages.
According to the FBI’s advisory, first reports surfaced on Thursday where recipients of these messages were told that they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” were given a time where “Executive Slaves” would get them, and were told what “Plantation Group” they had been assigned to.
We are closely monitoring the situation here. At this time, we have no reports of our community members receiving messages.
The FBI advises preserving any physical/digital evidence of these communications as victims come forward. Please report any such incidents immediately by contacting Campus Safety Services at 413-597-4444 or the Williamstown Police Department at 413-458-5733.
These messages, which threaten racial violence and intimidation, are deeply offensive. We understand that threats like these, even if they originate from unknown individuals or bots, can make us feel out of place or unwanted in our communities. The college remains committed to ensuring that all members of our community feel safe and welcome. Our colleagues in the Chaplains’ Office, the Davis Center, and Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are available to provide support, as are the teams in the Dean of the College’s office and Integrative Wellbeing Services.
Take care of yourselves and each other.
Leticia Smith-Evans Haynes, JD, PhD
Vice President | Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Gretchen Long
Dean of the College and Frederick Rudolph ’42 – Class of 1965 Professor of American Culture