The student’s tweets, which included racial slurs came to light on Tuesday

An incoming freshman who was slated to be a member of Xavier’s track and field team will no longer be joining the program after racist tweets were posted on his social media account. Former Xavier basketball player James Farr posted the tweets on his account, calling for action from the university and athletic department. Farr posted four tweets, two of which involved the student posting memes that used a racial slur, and three of the students own tweets, one of which read in reply to another to another tweet “its because theres no violence at KKK rallies, unlike the protests where thugs are setting stuff on fire.”

After Farr posted the tweets at 4:14 PM on Tuesday, many responses called for him to be removed from the team. At 7:06, Xavier Track and Field issued a statement through Twitter that confirmed that the student-athlete would not be a member of the team. “Over the last 24 hours, we became aware of a prospective student-athlete’s offensive social media posts. They do not reflect Xavier’s values or meet the expectations we have for our student-athletes as representatives of Xavier Univ. The student will not be joining our program.” After the tweets were posted, the student took his twitter account down, although his private Instagram account remains up. 

The tweets were in response to posts about the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing protests that have taken place nationwide. Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. It also comes on the same day Fr. Graham released a letter to the Xavier community regarding the recent events. Many Xavier athletic accounts have also released statements of their own regarding the events that have unfolded across the country.

The student had won two race-walking events at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals during his running career. New Balance did not respond when asked if they planned on revoking the titles.