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Gang-Themed Party at Clemson Raises Racial Tension

CLEMSON, S.C. ― The president at Clemson University is speaking out in the wake of an off-campus party that has raised racial tensions at the school.

Clemson University President Jim Clements issued a statement Sunday following Saturday night’s “Cripmas party” at a private residence where White students dressed as gang members. Photos posted on social media showed students covering their faces with bandanas and wearing t-shirts with images of handcuffs and the deceased rapper Tupac Shakur.

Black students took to Twitter and Facebook to voice anger over what they described as a climate of racial insensitivity and hostility. Blacks make up roughly 1 in 16 students at the state-supported South Carolina university.

Clements met Sunday with students who raised concerns about the party and sent an email to students saying “Clemson is better than this.”

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