The incidents occurred as Rhodes hosted several minority students through the annual Multicultural Visit Program.

The Commercial Appeal reports.

Some at Rhodes College see racist messages in ‘prank’

Two incidents on the campus of Rhodes College over the weekend have spurred an intense discussion about racism among students and faculty on the small private campus.

A sock monkey was discovered hanging out of a dorm on Friday, the college said in a statement, and was removed after campus security was notified. Some students and faculty said they believed it was a racist symbol, although the college said in a statement that it was a dorm-room prank.

Charles McKinney, associate professor of history and chair of the department of Africana Studies, issued a statement Monday condemning “our institutional culture that enables racism, laments any power of faculty, administrators, and students that is not overtly and loudly on the side of justice, and call to action all who know what a noose means.”