At this point, it's an epidemic. A Snapchat photo surfaced Thursday of a Prairie View University student, identified as Brooke Merino, appearing to wear a black sheet mask with the caption, "When you just tryna fit in at my HBCU."
A Twitter account associated with Brooke Merino was deleted shortly after the photo surfaced on the social media platform.
Prairie View A&M, a Texas-based university, is a historically black college and university. Its student body, as of fall of 2015, is 85% black and 3% white.
In an interview with Fusion, Prairie View A&M confirmed that Brooke Merino is the student in the photograph, and a student at the university. A rep confirmed that Prairie View's Office Of Student Conduct had asked to speak to Merino, and that the photo was under investigation by the university.
Students on Twitter lamented the racist nature of the photos:
She go to Prairie View?! Smh. https://t.co/O0nvMTI71h
— Bye. (@BrownAndDimpled) September 29, 2016
The photo from Prairie View is the latest in a long string of apparent blackface controversies playing out on Snapchat in colleges across America. Earlier this month, a Kansas State student was the center of her own blackface controversy; there have since been students at Quinnipiac University and at Albright College reprimanded for similar offenses.
This is developing story. This post will be updated as further information emerges.
Michael Rosen is a reporter for Fusion based out of Oakland.