Outrage at Auburn
By Joy Buchanan
In direct contrast to Auburn
University's ongoing attempts to increase
diversity and multicultural interaction in
its student body, campus chapters of Beta
Theta Pi and Delta Sigma Phi threw two
Halloween parties at which a number of
fraternity members paint
ed their faces black and
dressed in Ku Klux Klan
garb. They put nooses
around the necks of the
fraternity brothers in
black face. Fraternity
members danced in Afro
wigs and ostentatious
jewelry as they wore the
colors and letters of the
prominent black fraterni
ty, Omega Psi Phi. The
members of the two fra
ternities partied the night
away and posed for pho
tos later posted on the
Internet.
Octavius Walton, the
president of the universi
ty's Omega Psi Phi chap
ter, posted the photos on
the fraternity's university
web site, intending to use
them to make a case to
Auburn's administration.
Peter Pepinsky, Special
Assistant for Marketing
and Public Relations in the Student Affairs
office at Auburn, said that the administra
tion first learned of the photos on Nov. 5.
Within four hours, said Pepinsky, Beta
Theta Pi and Delta Sigma Phi were official
ly suspended and the university's interim
president, William Walker, had ordered a
full investigation.
That evening. Matt Furin, chapter pres
ident of Delta Sigma Phi, apologized on
behalf of his fraternity at a meeting of the
Black Student Union. Zac Gibbs, chapter
president of Beta Theta Pi, also issued an
apology and said that the chapter would
seek a minority faculty advisor to act as the
chapter's diversity director.
Apparently their efforts were too little,
too late. Within a week, fraternity repre
sentatives from the respective national
headquarters arrived at Auburn and with
drew the fraternities' charters. Hours later
the university withdrew recognition of the
fraternities and they were disbanded.
The ensuing investigation resulted in
the expulsion of a total of 15 fraternity
members. The university was adamant
about punishing the offending students
and fostering an atmosphere of cultural
sensitivity on the campus. President
Walker said he wanted to organize a task
force to establish a multicultural center.
The student body in general seemed to
support the actions taken by the universi
ty. "[We] exerted a strong effort as a uni
versity to really air this whole issue,"
Pepinsky said. He went on to say that the
incident was embarrassing for the univer
sity, but that "some good was coming out
of it."
The incidents also appeared to rally the
students and administration around the
issue of racism and intolerance. Napo
Monasterio, editor of Auburn University's
campus newspaper. The Plainsmen, said
that the incidents were "no joke" to the
student body and that "everybody was on
the same page."
Pepinsky also pointed out that promi
nent black organizations including the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, the NAACP and the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition approached
Omega Psi Phi and offered their assistance.
Curiously, Omega Psi Phi turned down the
offers and said, according to Pepinsky, that
it was their university and their problem,
and that they would handle it.
Although there appeared to be unity on
the campus, Pepinsky said some people
were saying, "I told you there were deep-
seated racial prejudices at
this university and now we
have proof." Others suggest
ed, "We're going awfully
hard on some fraternity
[boys] who did some things
that they now say were stu
pid and insensitive."
The expelled fraternity
members, their parents and
their lawyers agreed with the
latter statement. Over the
Thanksgiving holiday, for
mer members of Beta Theta
Pi sued the president of the
university, the vice president
of student affairs Wes
Williams, the board of
trustees and their own
national organization for vio
lation of their First
Amendment rights and $300
million in damages.
A week later, Alabama
Circuit Court Judge Robert
Harper reinstated 10 of the 15
expelled students. All 10
were Beta brothers. Delta Sigma Phi
recently filed suit as well.
Top: Frat members seen wearing
Omega Psi Phi shirts In blackface and
afro wigs. Omega Psi Phi Is the second
oldest black fraternity in the nation
founded in 1911.
Top: At Auburn University In Alabama, two all-white fraternities
(Beta Theta PI and Delta Sigma Phi) wore blackface and KKK robes
to Halloween parties, some even going so far as to simulate a
lynching.
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