UPDATE: Wesleyan College overturns student expulsion

Wesleyan College has overturned its decision in June to expel a student for racist social media posts, the school said in a statement Tuesday.

One post attributed to the student read “Bear down on these (expletives),” using a racial slur to demean Black people.

Many criticized the decision by Wesleyan, a private, women’s college in Macon, to overturn the expulsion of the unidentified student.

> RELATED: Wesleyan College expels student for racist social media posts

Wesleyan posted on its social media sites Tuesday that it considered unspecified “new information ... which called into question the accuracy of the original information” to overturn the expulsion. A committee of students, faculty and staff reviewed new details, and found that the student did not make the statements in June, as part of its decision.

The college said in its statement that the student broke no rule or policy. It added that it will work to make sure the student transitions seamlessly back on campus, but it will also continue efforts to improve its campus diversity and inclusion.

“Even though we erred in judgment in the case of this particular student, that will not deter us from doing our part to denounce racism and hate and build an environment where mutual respect and understanding can flourish,” the college wrote.

Several people posted responses on the college’s social media sites denouncing the decision. They said it shouldn’t matter when the student posted the comments and that the college should not tolerate racism in any form.

“Disappointing is an understatement,” one person responded on Instagram.

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