Black student leaders at SDSU are calling for more action after a video with racist comments was posted to Snapchat by a group of students.
Matilda Alex, Black Student Alliance (BSA) president and Students’ Association diversity liaison, said she appreciates a statement made by President Barry Dunn last week. But, she said students are expecting more. And when people say it’s “not a big deal,” it discredits the historical significance of the words, Alex said.
“Regarding situations like this, I do expect more severity in consequences,” Alex said.
BSA met Thursday, March 5, so students could talk about the situation. Some students said they have reported other instances of racism to the university and have not seen action, Alex said.
“This has happened in the past with my friends, like we’ve gotten slurs said to our face, written on whiteboards saying that we should go back to our country, that we don’t belong here,” Alex said. “Reported to the university, nothing has been done about it.”
Lila Simpson, a member of BSA and the ex-officio for Students’ Association, said that it was a relief that Dunn spoke out about the matter, but there are still a lot of people who are frustrated about other instances of racism that have gone away without accountability.
“Like it’s always, ‘Oh, it doesn’t violate this,’ ‘Oh, you know, you didn’t get that on video,’ or, ‘It wasn’t at our school,’ even though people are literally wearing SDSU gear,” Simpson said. “Or, you know, the person physically had it happen to them, but they won’t do anything.”
Alex and Simpson both expressed disappointment that situations like these are still happening in 2026.
Dunn released a statement Tuesday, March 3, condemning the behavior and announcing that the incident is under investigation.
“I appreciate President Dunn’s letter because he’s saying we don’t condone any of this disgusting behavior,” Alex said. “We don’t want this to just be swept under the rug. And I appreciated his message a lot.”
Dunn also said that support is available in his statement, and referred students to SDSU Counseling Services.
Jay Molock is a student success adviser in the Student Engagement Center and is the adviser of Black Student Alliance. He said representatives from the Wellness Center attended the BSA meeting last Thursday.
“They didn’t have to show up, but they did. They came to our meeting, and they [gave] personal support right then and there,” Molock said.
Tammy Lunday, the director of the Student Health and Counseling, and Audra Kelley Fullerton, assistant director of Miller Wellness Center Counseling, attended the meeting.
“They hung out. They didn’t just come for a few minutes and say their spiel and leave,” Molock said. “They came and they listened. They participated.”
Since the fall of 2020, Black and African American students have represented less than 2% of SDSU’s student population each year on average, according to enrollment data from Board of Regents factbooks from 2020 through 2025.
Even though Black and African American students are a minority at SDSU, Alex thinks the university has done a good job of making space for different cultures to be represented.
Alex said she doesn’t think this situation represents the university as a whole, and doesn’t want to diminish efforts made by SDSU to make it more accepting.
“I just feel like certain students need to be held accountable for certain actions,” Alex said.
When asked what she would say to a student of color who is considering attending SDSU, Alex said she can see why people might be discouraged. But, it doesn’t represent all of SDSU.
“This is not the culture of SDSU. These people (in the video) have poorly represented themselves,” Alex said. “I don’t want this to be a reflection of SDSU and our mission, our culture and our values because this is just not what we stand for.”
