Cole Paulson is an American college student.

He attended South Dakota State, but was not currently enrolled during the fall 2017 semester. ^[undefined]

On October 27th, photos began circulating around Twitter of Paulson wearing Blackface, an afro, and I sign that said "Will Stand For Money." ^[666666] One picture was retweeted 1,800 times before being taken down. The costume was seen as mocking to NFL players such as Colin Kaepernick who keeled during the national anthem and was heavily criticized on social media. ^[undefined] Cole has since apologized, saying: "I will be completely honest and tell you I was ignorant to the fact as to painting my face like that was racist... It was in no way my intention to offend the African American community, and I have read many articles and documents since to educate myself on why it was wrong of me to do what I did. I also never left the confines of my home with that paint on my face. I was contacted almost immediately about how it was wrong and proceeded to wash it off before I went anywhere. I wholeheartedly apologize as I feel horrible about my ignorance and offending many people I respect." [3]