FSU NAACP chapter wants action after Honors student refers to Black students as ‘chimps’ on social media

FSU is shaking up its course catalog.

The Florida State University (FSU) chapter of the NAACP is calling for an investigation and campuswide antidiscrimination training after an FSU student posted a Snapchat using racist terminology.

According to FSU’s website, Market Wednesday is a “medley of activities … a combination of recognized student organizations, market vendors, and passersbys.”

During Wednesday’s event, FSU Honors student Owen Howard uploaded a Snapchat photo to a universitywide class of 2026 Snapchat story that showed dozens of students lined outside the Black Student Union with the caption, “Chimps are going to chimp out.”

Many students flagged the Snapchat, reported Howard to the FSU Report Website, and emailed the Honors Program. Howard responded on the same class of 2026 story later that day, “that post by the way was meant as a joke. I’m sorry y’all didn’t get it.”

Several students took to investigating Howard’s background and found his X account had posted dozens of “memes,” if you could even call them that. The posts target several ethnic groups — including Haitians, the LGBTQ community and Jewish people — with wildly offensive stereotypes.

Around 5 p.m. the same day as the Snapchat incident, the NAACP Florida State University chapter made an official statement about the controversy.

“The term chimp is practically offensive due to its long history of being used to equate black people to apes or other primates … intended to strip Black individuals of their humanity and portray them as inferior or less than human.”

In their release, the chapter called for an immediate formal investigation into the incident with transparency, appropriate disciplinary measures against Howard within the scope of FSU’s Code of conduct policy, mandatory campuswide education on discrimination, and FSU’s commitment and reaffirmation to upholding their values to protect marginalized communities.

Representatives of the FSU chapter of the NAACP spoke at the 76th Student Senate the night of the event and voiced their concerns. The FSU Honors Program is currently investigating the event.