Racist messages sent to UCSC email accounts, FBI helping investigate

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION)-- Officials with UCSC say they denounce the "racist, hateful" emails sent to some UC Santa Cruz email accounts this past weekend.

Campus police are in contact with the FBI in hopes of determining who is responsible. Officials with the college say, "there is no place on this or any campus for vile hate speech, and it is especially hurtful when so many in our community and nationwide are now raising their voices against racial injustice."

The messages came from a sender identifying itself as Equity Prime Mortgage. It contained racial slurs and threats of violence against Black people. Identical emails were received at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and many other institutions of higher education.

An Equity Prime Mortgage spokesman has said an outside party somehow obtained a list of emails and used it “to deliver false information on behalf of the company.” The company said it is working with the FBI to determine who is responsible.

UCSC’s Information Technology Services believes the emails were sent to about 1,200 campus accounts. ITS was able to remove most of the messages from mailboxes before they were opened.

If you received an email, you're asked to report it to the campus police dispatch center at (831) 459-2231, ext. 1. Also visit the UCSC Report Hate website and enter the information on the Hate-Bias Report Form. 

For students, a range of support services is available through the Cowell Student Health Center including personal counseling and support through Counseling and Psychological Services. 

For employees, the Employee Assistance Program can provide personal counseling and support.