A virtual Zoom event for incoming University of Wyoming (UW) students was disrupted by "racist and vulgar" language, according to a campus-wide email from President Ed Seidel.
More than 200 incoming students were attending the webinar. The email said that the campus community has a moral responsibility to "root out racism."
"On behalf of UW, we apologize to these incoming students and will redouble our efforts around cybersecurity practices to prevent similar incidents from happening again," Seidel wrote.
There's no evidence the attacker was an incoming student or connected to the university, but Seidel said UW police are investigating it further.
This is not the first time a virtual UW event has been disrupted in this way. Another attacker — who was never identified — "Zoom-bombed" a Black History Month event in 2021 with racist, violent, and sexually graphic images and videos.
UW IT sent a follow-up communication to campus, directing anyone who might be hosting a virtual event to a page with safety recommendations.