FORT WORTH, Texas — On the University of Oklahoma's campus today, students silently marched and then used their voices, protesting two recent racist incidents.
A video of a white student in blackface using racial slurs was posted last week, and just yesterday, another person in blackface was seen parading around campus.
Two students seen in the initial video have apologized and voluntarily will not return to campus, but the incidents have led to a renewed conversation about issues with racism at the Norman campus.
"On a predominantly white campus, you know that you might face these kinds of adversities, but when they happen they kind of hit you pretty hard," OU junior Tatum Texada said.
Texada participated in the protests today, and she was one of the first students to speak out against the blackface incident. She posted images to Twitter in her OU cheerleader uniform with her mouth covered by tape.
The words "Still UNHEARD" reference another incident on campus a few years ago.
Texada grew up in Fort Worth and said she turned down a full scholarship to TCU to be a Sooner. She said she wishes she didn't have to speak out or approach professors to ask to leave to class to protest.
OU said more than a quarter of its freshman class is made up of students from Texas, so many eyes from parents and alumni are paying attention to what's happening on campus. The protesters have demanded changes to the school's code of conduct and also to the climate on campus.
"We shouldn't have to be activists and college students at the same time," Texada said. "We can't be complacent and not push."
On Thursday, OU's president, in a statement, called the students' voices essential, and he said that he's "committed to creating a culture on campus where everyone feels safe and welcome."