<p>A couple of years ago, two girls from my former college posted really nasty, racist remarks about an African-American girl from their building on Facebook. The comments were posted as private, but that didn’t matter. It was discovered, became a huge ordeal, and the two students responsible were expelled. The girl whom the comments were about ended up transferring schools as soon as she could. Awful situation. </p>
<p>By now, absolutely everyone should know how to be responsible and careful with social media (even “private” social media). And there’s never an excuse for racism. </p>
<p>As far as how common a situation like this is, it doesn’t seem to occur often, but it isn’t unheard of. I don’t know why you’re singling out the Midwest, either. This kind of thing could happen at colleges in any part of the country.</p>