On Friday, April 24, the Elon University community received an email from President Leo Lambert regarding a racial slur incident that occurred near campus. In his email, President Lambert said he was "outraged and saddened" to report an African-American student had reported a racial slur yelled at her from a car Wednesday, April 22 on N. O'Kelly Avenue.

According to a Smith Jackson email, due to the new addition of security cameras that have recently been installed, the suspects have been identified as Elon students. One of the students has admitted for using the slur, and is remorseful. He is being held accountable by the Office of Student Conduct, but due to Federal privacy laws his name cannot be released.

While this is not the first incident of racial slurs near campus, it also may not have been the only racial slur from that day. Sophomore Josh O'Neil posted on Facebook that the N-word was yelled at him from a car driving on Williamson Ave., the same night President Lambert described in his email.

"He pulled up next to me and I just looked at him and said don't do it whatever you're gonna do don't do it," O'Neil said.

O'Neil said he didn't report the incident because he didn't think students would care.

"They don't wanna hear about it. They don't wanna deal with it and they just want to ignore it and say minorities are being too sensitive or exaggerating which it's not," O'Neil said.

O'Neil said he talked to Dean of Multicultural Affairs, Randy Williams about the incident. Williams told ELN he is inspired by the approach Elon is taking, but that inclusion has to start with the individual.

"Something that each person on this campus can do is take a look in the mirror, take an effective look at self and see how do I feel about this particular community along a wide range of identities," Williams said.

Many students on Elon's campus, from all backgrounds, feel the same way.

"I do think this is an issue on campus and I think we should move past this and try to make a better difference for the future and to be all friendly and more equal on campus," said sophomore Ryan Shaw.

"I was shocked but not all that surprised that an incident like this happened on campus. I think it was taken in a good way by how direct and forward President Lambert's email was. That was pretty awesome," said junior Mia Watkins.

Williams said incidents like these impact everyone

"We're all a part of this community so if one member of the community is hurt it diminishes whole experience for the entire community," he said.

Williams is leading a Presidential Task Force on Black Student, Faculty and Staff Experiences to develop a long term plan for Elon.

The University declined to comment or provide security footage from the incident as the investigation into the lest incident is ongoing. If anyone has any information on this incident, contact Campus Safety and Police at 336.278.5555.