One community affected by the polar blast was the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In the midst of this arctic chill, students, faculty and staff at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign experienced sub-zero temperatures on Jan. 27. Though conditions were extreme, Chancellor Phyllis Wise informed the campus population that despite the likelihood of frostbite, classes and all campus business would proceed as scheduled.

Immediately, enraged students took to Twitter, complaining under a profane hashtag targeted at Wise.

Initially, students’ opinions were playful and lighthearted. One such tweet read, “Phyllis Wise wears Crocs.”

However, the comments quickly escalated with racism and sexism.

One student at the university relentlessly tweeted, “Asians and women aren’t responsible for their actions.”

Another student even exclaimed, “Phyllis Wise is the Kim Jong Un of chancellors.”

Though the comments began with no harm intended, the students were unquestionably caught up in the camaraderie built in the moment, failing to put their actions into perspective.

Wise was a victim of cyber-bullying by her own students.

If students see no fault in cyber-bullying an authority figure, where will they draw the line?

In a society where social media is progressing as a major medium for communication, the inevitability of cyber-bullying increases. This is an awful, increasing concern that should be addressed.

However, students are not the only people who cyber-bully. The Wise epidemic soon escalated when BuzzFeed negatively reported on the issue by generalizing the student body and highlighting some of the student’s ill-intended comments.

BuzzFeed’s audience was appalled at the atrocities posted in response to the denied snow day, especially students at the university. In response, many of these individuals defensively took to Twitter as well, resulting in even more negative publicity for Wise and the university.

Logan Ebeling, a student at the University of Illinois, voiced his opinion on the matter, claiming “as a percentage, those saying racist or sexist things about her is tiny, minuscule, and almost insignificant.”

There is no doubt that the students should be held more accountable for their distasteful words towards the chancellor. However, the real problem in this situation is the media highlighting that small percentage.

By doing so, the media has contributed to bullying Wise.

Presenting the situation to society has led to public humiliation of Wise on a greater scale than the individuals on Twitter.

If students’ bullying is a widely-known problem, it is not acceptable for the media to contribute as well. Though a few students bullying the chancellor is a prevalent problem, the media’s inappropriate exaggeration of the Wise epidemic should be addressed.

Rather than negatively contributing to a situation that could have easily been overlooked, maybe the media should focus on more uplifting topics.