On Tuesday of last week, an anonymous Loyola-targeting account was created on Instagram. In the following three days, more than six racist, homophobic and vile AI videos featuring members of Loyola faculty and staff were posted, one of which amassed over 500,000 views and 45,000 likes.
The account drew on the fringe conspiracy theory called Agartha: a hidden, technologically advanced Aryan civilization said to exist deep within the Earth’s core, the intersection of Norse mythology and Nazi ideology. Unlike most online posts that use humor laced with subtle racial undertones, Agartha’s content was overtly and intentionally hateful; its bio even included the phrase “no minorities allowed.”
Although Instagram deleted the account on Friday, its impact remains. Faculty members who were defamed and ridiculed before an online audience will likely feel the effects of this incident long after the posts themselves have disappeared. Although many members of the Loyola community were appalled by the account’s creation, others brushed it off or sadly engaged with its content. That divide reveals something deeper: over time, subtle forms of racism and bias have become normalized within our community. The Agartha account didn’t invent this culture; it exposed and amplified it.
Therefore, The Loyalist Executive Staff condemns the account and all who engaged with or defended it for standing in direct opposition to Loyola’s mission and Catholic values. We unequivocally reject the account’s racist, homophobic, and dehumanizing content. Freedom of speech does not legitimize hate, and humor is never an excuse for harm. Students cannot claim to be “men for and with others” while ignoring the pain inflicted on members of their own community.
From the jokes made in locker rooms to the casual use of slurs in group chats, Loyola has long struggled with an undercurrent of normalized discrimination. Comments disguised as “harmless humor” or “inside jokes” often go unchecked by the students involved in those conversations, creating an environment where prejudice can quietly thrive. When an account like this appears, it’s hard to be surprised, since it reflects attitudes that, while usually hidden behind laughter, already exist in smaller, more socially acceptable forms. The difference is only in scale.
This environment of subtle racism that heavily influenced the reactions to Agartha also manifests in the forms of microaggressions, everyday verbal or behavioral slights that convey implicit bias or hostility toward marginalized groups. That quiet tolerance among students for everyday bias set the stage for the chaos that followed, as the community’s response to Agartha revealed just how deep these attitudes run.
Not only were the posts created by this account harmful to the well-being of the Loyola community, but the social implications and baggage that come with offenses of this scale became apparent throughout the week. Students began questioning who might be behind the account almost immediately. Names were whispered, fingers were pointed, and the familiar aspects of cancel culture echoed through the halls. Accusatory remarks like “Was it you?” and “I think that this person did it” became, and still are, commonplace when students discuss the situation. Even if the accusations are usually intended to be harmless, the culture of the remarks is not. Having your name associated with such a vile act not only hurts someone’s self-esteem but also reflects how people honestly think about one another, hurting those who had no connection with the account at all. Students may feel the need to amend the situation, but baseless accusations do more harm than good.
If the Loyola community, as a whole, wants to live out the phrase “men for and with others” that we so proudly preach, we must openly and honestly confront these realities. Dismantling this culture begins with honest conversations about how prejudice takes root, even in small jokes, online trends or clubs that appear harmless on the surface. Faculty, administrators, and students alike must take responsibility for calling out intolerance when it appears and for creating spaces where empathy defines our community. Education rooted in Jesuit values demands more than academic excellence; it requires moral courage.
While the Agartha account revealed deeper issues within our own halls, it’s part of a wider societal problem. The normalization of racism, bias, and microaggressions is not unique to Loyola but as a community rooted in Jesuit values, educators and students alike have both the responsibility and the ability to rise above it.
The events of the past week have shown that racism at Loyola is not an isolated incident but a symptom of something deeper. Many students do not realize that doing nothing at all does not resolve moral responsibility or clear one’s involvement from the situation. The culture of sins of omission at Loyola needs to change. Moving forward means condemning hateful actions after they occur and committing to the work of building a campus where dignity, respect and justice are nonnegotiable.
