The University of Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah in Salt Lake City is addressing two recent racially-motivated incidents that happened days after the school year started.
According to administrators, the first incident occurred on August 17. A Black faculty member said that he was walking towards the UTA Trax South Campus station when a White man, with what appeared to be a small food delivery paper bag, walked up to him and asked him for directions to a building.
When the delivery man found out the building was locked, he reportedly screamed racial slurs at the faculty member. On August 28, a resident reported to the front desk that they heard another resident making racist and sexual comments inside the laundry room of the residence hall. "This is unacceptable," university administrators said in an online statement. RELATED: Duke women's volleyball player's racial-slur claim comes under scrutiny"Until members of our Black community can work, and study, and live at the University of Utah without the threat of outsiders or insiders assaulting them with words and actions, it will remain unacceptable," the statement continued.
In 2019, suicide was the second leading cause of death for African Americans between 15 and 24 years old.The university has addressed prior racially-motivated incidents in recent years.