Posted on 11/01/2002 12:53:53 AM PST by ninonitti
A University of Tennessee fraternity has been suspended because of an incident last week in which white members painted their faces to look like the black pop group The Jackson Five.
The national office of Kappa Sigma has suspended its UT chapter, which means the fraternity "no longer has standing as a registered student organization and is suspended from participating in university activities, such as Homecoming," according to a statement issued Wednesday by UT Vice President and Provost Loren Crabtree.
Fraternity members couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, but Crabtree said the national office was cooperating in an ongoing investigation.
A number of black students complained to campus officials last week after a group of fraternity members allegedly walked from their fraternity house to a party on the Cumberland Avenue Strip dressed as the Jackson siblings, according to UT's account.
Even if the national Kappa Sigma organization reinstates the UT Lambda chapter, UT might not choose to recognize the group, according to Crabtree.
"We will require the leaders and members of Kappa Sigma to demonstrate a commitment to uphold our expectations for civility, ethnic diversity and racial harmony," Crabtree said.
Crabtree indicated that individual students involved in the incident might face university sanctions once the investigation is concluded.
Crabtree said the incident was "particularly distressing to the members of the (UT) administration because all fraternities and sororities participated in a workshop a year ago to address a similar situation at another institution."
Crabtree also pointed out measures that UT has taken over the past few months to widen the African and African-American Studies program and a planned semester-long program beginning in January to "celebrate Africa's cultural, entertainment and educational contributions to non-African cultures around the world."
A training program on race and diversity will begin next spring, and a special session covering the same topics will be added to the summer orientation program for new students, Crabtree said.
........blacks posing as the Osmond Brothers.
They would probably clap on one and three.
I mean, if it's a question of putting someone down for something then I can at least understand what the complaint is, even if I don't find it valid. But I don't even understand what the problem here is.
In America on Halloween, the custom is to dress up as someone else. That's all that they did. And, I mean, how do we even know that they didn't like the Jackson 5? They might have been honoring them for all we know! I personally still like MJ's early stuff.
For an office halloween party one person dressed up as a monk: there were no calls of insensitivity for that, and I'd feel the same if there were as I do about this. Sorry, I know that I'm just venting here, but this is so far our of hand at this point it's not funny.
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