In Centre County Wednesday night, a State College Area High School Football meeting was scheduled to be held. At which — a concerning topic was allegedly set to be discussed. It was brought to our attention that a concerning Snapchat image filled with racist and homophobic symbols and verbiage was to be brought up at this meeting, because it was allegedly created by Football Team Members. However, when our Reporter went to learn more, she was escorted out.
According to the Centre Daily Times, a photo was circulated on Snapchat on June 14th, depicting antisemitic symbols, and racial, and homophobic slurs on top of a Crumbl cookie box. The alleged students who sent it are State College Area High School rising seniors, and one incoming Penn State Freshman.
In response to the incident, the School’s Administration sent out an email to parents condemning the incident and offering counseling services to Students. On Wednesday, the Administration held a meeting they told us was strictly for football and for parents only, denying us access. We were able to catch up with one parent after who told us that the incident was discussed during the meeting but it was not disclosed who was involved and what the consequences would be. Shan Jackson, a State College Area High School Parent saying: “How can we move forward if we don’t even know what happened or who was involved and you still expect our players, our sons, to be around these people and not have any type of accountability. It was very frustrating to sit there being as though I have a brown son who has probably been around these players for years, growing up with them and now I have to fear his safety. Is he safe around these people? Do they really like him? Are they really his friends?”
We asked Jackson what the resolution of the meeting was. Jackson, in response: “That they’re working on it. There’s only so many things that they can do because it happened while school was not in session so their hands are tied because of supreme court cases.” Jackson also told us it is imperative that state college as a community acts together to address this issue. Jackson, in conclusion: “State College as a whole, as a community, we just need to do better with when a situation like this occurs to deal with it and not sweep it under the rug and try to make the victims feel like they are the people that have to do the work to fix the situation. We are not the people that are supposed to fix it.”
We contacted the State College Area High School for comment, but have not heard back. We will continue to follow this story as we work to learn more.