LOUISVILLE, Ky, (WDRB) -- A safety alert sent out Thursday by the University of Louisville has come under fire, with some calling it unhelpful and racist, prompting the institution’s president to apologize.
The RAVE alert, which the institution sent out at 2 a.m. Thursday warned of a "black male wearing a red hoodie" who had run from police in southern Indiana and was possibly on campus.
Carmen Mitchell, an analyst with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, tweeted that she was infuriated and said the alert was "racist" and "completely unhelpful."
I am absolutely infuriated by this racist (and completely unhelpful!) so-called safety alert I received from @uofl this morning, which could absolutely cause a George Floyd/Jacob Blake/Ahmaud Arbery/Trayvon Martin situation. pic.twitter.com/dKH05odDJS
— Carmen Mitchell (@carmenrmitchell) September 10, 2020
"I will definitely be reaching out to the administration to complain and encourage everyone else in the UofL community to do the same," Mitchell said in a follow-up tweet.
U of L President Neeli Bendapudi apologized and said on Twitter that the alert "did not serve its intended purpose and likely made many on our campus feel less safe than more safe."
"I extend to each and every member of our campus community, particularly those that were further negatively traumatized by this alert, my most sincere apologies,” she said. “I am sorry. I have instructed my team to follow up to ensure this does not happen again."
The RAVE alert sent from @UofL around 2 a.m. Thursday morning did not serve its intended purpose and likely made many on our campus feel less safe than more safe. We are addressing our process internally to ensure this never happens again. We will do better.
— Neeli Bendapudi (@UofLPresNeeli) September 10, 2020
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