Three employees from Grace College & Seminary were fired after a photo of them posing as “rappers” with a fake album cover background went viral earlier this month amid allegations of White privilege and cultural appropriation.
The photo was taken as part of a “wrap day” in the marketing department, which participates in themed days each Friday during the summer at the evangelical Christian institution located in Indiana.
“[We] thought it would be funny to parody the Grace College culture by making a fake rap album,” said Evan Kilgore, who was terminated from his job as an admissions counselor.
Kilgore, 23, graduated from the college in 2016 and served as Student Government Association president.
The photograph included the acronym “N.G.A.” in the top left corner, which is claimed to stand for “Not Grace Appropriate”.
The photo also depicts one man wearing an Afro while another showed off a fake tattoo and backward baseball cap. Kilgore showed his knuckles with the phrase “thug life” along with a teardrop tattoo on his right check, and four out of the five individuals flashed gang signs.
