FIU said in a statement on Thursday that campus police are investigating students involved in a group chat tied to a Miami-Dade chapter of the Republican Party after reports of racist slurs, antisemitic comments and misogynistic language surfaced. The university said the investigation is being conducted in coordination with local, state and federal law enforcement.
FIU President Jeanette Nunez said the university would not tolerate the conduct. “FIU does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism,” Nunez said. “This is not who we are. This is not what FIU stands for.”
The chat was started by an official with the Miami-Dade chapter of the Republican Party and included students and several top conservative leaders at Florida International University, the Miami Herald reported, with the conversations described as denounced by the state GOP. The university did not describe the alleged content in its statement, but said the conduct of the students was under investigation.
The Republican Party of Florida said it was responding to the matter internally. In a statement, the party said it was undertaking “an internal review of this situation” and condemned “the repugnant comments,” saying they were “completely contrary” to what the organization represents.
The response echoed previous action by other parts of the Republican Party. Last fall, New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization after a group chat surfaced that included jokes about rape and commentary about gas chambers.
On Friday, an official with the Republican Jewish Coalition echoed the condemnation from Florida GOP officials. “Antisemitism and bigotry have no place in the Republican Party,” said Sam Markstein, a spokesman for the Jewish GOP group.