A woman who appeared to be a student at the University of Virginia was caught on video announcing that as a “POC” she felt “uncomfortable” at the sight of “too many white people” inside the school’s new Multicultural Student Center (MSC). The university has said that the center is open to “all members of the University community.”
“Public service announcement,” the woman can be heard at the beginning of the video. “Excuse me, if y’all didn’t know, this is the MSC, and frankly, there’s just too many white people in here.”
“This is a space for people of color,” she added. “So just be really cognizant of the space that you’re taking up, because it does make some of us POC’s uncomfortable when we see too many white people in here.”
The so-called “public service announcement” was caught in video, which surfaced on social media Wednesday.
Watch below:
“It’s only been open for four days,” the woman added of the school’s Multicultural Student Center, “and frankly, there’s the whole university for a lot of y’all to be at.”
“There’s very few spaces for us,” she added, “so keep that in mind. Thank you.”
The video quickly circulated on Twitter, where it caught the attention of millions of users including prominent alumni.
One of those offering feedback included University of Virginia alum and representative Chip Roy (R-TX), who reacted to the video by pointing out how a “multicultural center” can actually facilitate and promote “race-based segregation” at a university.
“Hey, [University of Virginia], this is what a ‘multicultural center’ causes. More race-based thinking and segregating,” said Roy. “One of many reasons I have not contributed to UVa in 20 years (which of course means not on the most-favored list).”
The video of the incident has garnered 2.8 million views as of Thursday afternoon.
The university appeared to react to the viral video in a statement posted to its official Twitter account on Thursday, which clarified that such “multicultural” centers are “open to all members of the University community.”
“Earlier this month the University announced the relocation and expansion of its Multicultural Student Center as part of an effort to offer a variety of spaces that embrace and support the diversity of this institution,” read the school’s statement.
The university continued:
These new spaces also included an expanded LGBTQ Center, as well as new Latinx-focused and Interfaith Centers. As UVA President Jim Ryan said at the opening of these centers, “I believe deeply that we need to build a community that is not just diverse, but also inclusive.”
“In order to foster the diversity of experience and ideas that make UVA a great and good place to study and work, these centers are open to all members of the University community,” added the university.
The University of Virginia did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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