A Greek Life retreat at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) was promptly cancelled this weekend after a banana peel was found hanging in a tree.
“To be clear, many members of our community were hurt, frightened, and upset by what occurred at IMPACT,”
…
After word of the banana spread throughout the retreat, leaders decided to end the event early. Arndt explained that she “felt it was imperative to provide space immediately to students affected by this incident.”
According to The DM, some students left the retreat in tears, with McNeil noting that they “didn’t feel welcome” and “didn’t feel safe.”
Swanson [who admitted to discarding the banana peel in a tree after he was unable to locate a garbage can] apologized for the incident, writing in a statement that he wants to “sincerely apologize for the events that took place this past weekend.”
“Although unintentional, there is no excuse for the pain that was caused to members of our community,” he continued. “I have much to learn and look forward to doing such and encourage all members of our community to do the same.”
The story linked in the OP contains a link to a story in the Daily Mississippian, where this was first written up. From that article, “Greek life retreat ends abruptly with bias concerns”:
The incident then seems to have been resolved, as least as far as who did it and why, but apparently the ensuing discussion did not go well and the rest of the retreat was canceled.
I checked up on them. Campus Reform is a subsidiary of The Leadership Institute (tagline: “Training conservative activists, students, and leaders since 1979”).
Pretty much the opposite of an unbiased source; they don’t even try and hide their slant.
Okrahoma, my heart goes out to you. Hugs, man! I know reading about teenagers is pretty traumatic, and I’m glad you feel safe enough to share your concerns with us here.
Best wishes, Okrahoma. Hopefully you’ll get over this and be able to move onto bigger and better things. Life is tough out there, but with time and effort, you’ll get through it.