Many people with argue that racism no longer exists. Since the election of our new President-elect Donald Trump, inhumane acts of hate have been on the rise. At the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top Universities in the United States, has made headlines because several black freshmen’s names were placed on a “daily lynching” calendar.

Everyone was surprised by this ignominious racist incident. The authorities are trying to find the students who were victimized and provide them with some type of support during this trying time.

The University’s President, Amy Gutmann, along with other staff members released a statement about the racist incident:

The account itself is totally repugnant: it contains violent, racist and thoroughly disgusting images and messages. This is simply deplorable. …

This is absolutely vile material and completely offensive to everyone on our campus. We are both angry and saddened that it was directed to our students or to anyone. The people responsible for this are reprehensible. We have increased campus safety and are reaching out to support the affected students in every way we can, and want them to know that the entire Penn community stands with them.

We must reiterate how absolutely essential it is to the core values of our community, and also to the well-being of our society and world, that all persons be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. The racism of this GroupMe message is profoundly inimical to what we stand for as a university. We will take every step possible to counteract its appalling bias. And we all stand together in solidarity with our Black students who have been so terribly targeted.

The best place to start is reaching out to students whose name where on this list to ensure they are okay and haven’t experienced any other threats from students. The next step is to punish the students responsible for the racist act. I don’t know what the punishment should be, I am extreme, and I say expel them and lock them up but some think that’s too harsh. Essentially that is a threat on someone’s life. And how else do you send the message that the behavior is disgusting and intolerable? If the punishment is harsh, their likeminded counterparts will think first before threatening someone’s life.