UPDATE: KSU Suspends Adviser After Alleged Racist Video Goes Viral

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UPDATE: Kennesaw State University has suspended the adviser who was seen on video telling a student his presence in the school advisement office was harassment.

WSB-TV reports that Abby Dawson will be suspended for two weeks while the university conducts a thorough investigation into the interaction Dawson had with black junior Kevin Bruce on Wednesday.

Kevin Bruce was waiting at the WellStar College of Health and Human Services for one of his exercise science advisers to arrive and sign a form for him when Dawson came in and said he was harassing staff by sitting in the office.

“Sitting here until somebody’s available is harassing them,” Dawson says in the video.

The video kicked off a social media firestorm, launching a new hashtag campaign called #ItsBiggerThanKSU. “Wow, the struggles of being a black male in modern society. You can’t even sit anymore. Tragic,” tweeted one user.

Bruce himself tweeted that the issue wasn’t racial in nature, claiming that people of every race have trouble with the advisement staff.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, KSU Provost and Vice President of Student Affairs Ken Harmon said, “Kennesaw state is dedicated to providing a positive academic experience for all students. We also have a responsibility to provide all students, faculty and staff with a fair and thorough review process.”

ORIGINAL STORY: Kennesaw State University is investigating the circumstances behind a viral video which purportedly shows a white adviser chastising a black student for sitting in the advisement office waiting for his own academic adviser.

According to WSB-TV, junior Kevin Bruce was waiting at the WellStar College of Health and Human Services for one of his exercise science advisers to arrive and sign a form for him when another adviser said he was harassing staff by sitting in the office.

“Sitting here until somebody’s available is harassing them,” the adviser says in the video.

Despite Bruce’s protestations, the adviser threatened to call security to remove him; the video may show the adviser walking to a phone to make the call. Bruce told WSB-TV that he regularly has trouble meeting with his adviser, but had never run into such an escalated situation before.

The video kicked off a social media firestorm, launching a new hashtag campaign called #ItsBiggerThanKSU. “Wow, the struggles of being a black male in modern society. You can’t even sit anymore. Tragic,” tweeted one user.

Bruce himself tweeted that the issue wasn’t racial in nature, claiming that people of every race have trouble with the advisement staff.

Kennesaw State University is investigating the incident, according to a statement obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Kennesaw State University officials take seriously all student concerns and are dedicated to promoting a positive academic advising experience for all students,” the statement read in part.