Man heard using racial slur resigns from a Penn State commonwealth

Penn State said Tuesday that a man who could be heard using a racial slur multiple times in a video posted to social media resigned Monday from a commonwealth campus’ advisory board.

One day after Penn State said it was “looking into this matter with urgency,” a university spokesperson wrote in an email to the Centre Daily Times that Jonathan Spanos was no longer a member of the Penn State York advisory board.

“This hateful language has no place in our community and is not reflective of the University’s values or our desire to foster an inclusive environment,” university spokesman Wyatt DuBois wrote in an earlier email Monday to the CDT.

In the video clip posted to X, a man the university believed to be Spanos can be heard using the N-word about a half-dozen times in a heated exchange that spans less than 40 seconds.

“I am a racist,” the man believed to be Spanos said.

The person who posted the video on X said the confrontation came in the aftermath of a road rage incident. The Centre Daily Times was not immediately able to confirm the veracity of the video or the post.

“You popped me the finger,” the man said in the video. “You’re wrong.”

When given a description of the man who could be seen using the racial slurs, a Penn State York spokesperson said he is believed to Spanos.

Spanos was listed on Penn State York’s website as the owner of The Paddock on Market, a seafood restaurant in York County. The CDT’s call to the restaurant went unanswered Monday evening. The eatery is closed Monday.

The York Dispatch reported Monday that an employee who declined to identify themselves said they would not comment because “it’s a family situation.”

The York Daily Record reported no one answered the door Monday, but an unidentified woman using a side entrance told two reporters to “get lost.”

A man who said he had direct knowledge of the incident told the newspaper the video was recorded in mid-October. He spoke with the outlet on the condition of anonymity.

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Neither the Dispatch, Daily Record nor PennLive were able to reach Spanos directly. The restaurant’s Facebook page appeared Monday to have been made private or deleted.

Spanos was listed as Penn State York’s commencement speaker in 2014. The university described him at the time as an accomplished homeland security public safety information technology director. He is a University Park alumnus.

He endowed the J. Spanos Family Trustee Scholarship in honor of his parents and sisters who are both alumnae.

The York County branch of the NAACP called for Spanos to resign from all leadership positions with the campus and any business associations. The organization is “deeply troubled” by the incident, branch President Jamiel Alexander said in a statement.

“Such behavior is malicious and stands in stark contrast to the values of equality and respect that our community strives to uphold,” Alexander said.

The NAACP also urged Penn State York to conduct a thorough review of its advisory council members and engage the community with conversations to address issues of racism.

“The use of this demeaning term is not only offensive but also perpetuates the systemic racism that the NAACP has fought against for over a century,” Alexander said. “It is particularly concerning when such language comes from individuals in positions of influence and authority within our educational institutions and business communities.”

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