Administrators at a small Minnesota college announced Wednesday that a racist note that led them to temporarily shut down classes appears to have been faked.
A black St. Olaf College student claimed to have found the racist note on her car windshield in April.
"I am so glad that you are leaving soon," the note read. "One less n***** that this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up."
The note sparked widespread protests on campus. Large numbers of students and faculty held a sit-in in the student commons and their leaders interrupted a college forum to present their demands to the administration.
In response to the outrage and threats of boycotting class, St. Olaf canceled classes last Monday "so that we may have time for faculty, students, and staff to continue the discussions about racism and diversity on our campus." The administration also contacted the FBI and local police.
But the administration announced Wednesday that it was no longer concerned about the letter, saying it now believes the note was not a "genuine threat."
"[We] learned from the author's confession that the note was fabricated," St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson wrote in an email to students. "It was apparently a strategy to draw attention to concerns about the campus climate."
College Fix reports that the student behind the accusation posted on Facebook that "it looks like something made its way back to me in the investigation."
"I will be saying it was a hoax," Samantha Wells wrote in the now-deleted post. "I don't care. There is nothing more that I can do. I just wanted to give y'all the heads up."
The faked note followed several alleged racial incidents at the private Minnesota college.