From the Editors
Everyone is different. I know you have heard that a million times, but think about it.
The world is made up of different personalities, especially in the United States where we are considered the ‘melting pot.’ Have you ever taken time to evaluate who you are?
After I started writing about the different personalities that we will all encounter in this world, I learned about a recent event at Auburn University. Brooke Houston, a senior majoring in Mass Communication, informed our class about the happenings in Alabama.
Two fraternities, Delta Sigma Phi and Beta Theta Pi had a Halloween party in which some of the members dressed up in racially offensive costumes. The pictures shown probably speak better than my words will be able to. Some of the members dressed up in Ku Klux Klan robes; others wore masks with black faces or painted their face black with a noose around the neck. This particular costume also entailed a shirt with
“FUBU” written across the front of it to refer to an African American clothing maker, “For us, by us.”
A professional photographer was hired for the party, and the pictures were posted on the Internet. (This is a common practice for the company.) The picture revealed the student wearing a Klan robe and hood pointing a gun at the student dressed up with the noose around his neck. The confederate flag is hanging behind them.
Other attendants of the party showed up wearing wigs, black facemasks and a jersey with Omega Psi Phi, the letters of the oldest black fraternity at Auburn, across the front. These pictures also appeared on the Internet.
Octavius Walton, the president of Omega Psi Phi got the pictures from the Internet and took them to the administration. He was quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying, “We knew it would be a problem trying to prove it. We had to have evidence. It’s not what you can say, but what you can prove.”
The Interfraternity Council President at Auburn University said the two fraternities are not representative of Auburn’s Greek system. I want to know why they are a part of it then. The only repercussions thus far are that two members of Delta Sigma Phi have been expelled from the fraternity, and both of the organizations are not allowed to hold a social event until they are let off of suspension. I think that both fraternities should have their charter status revoked.
In the same article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Auburn’s Interim President, William Walker said, “These images are shocking and outrageous, and they are unacceptable. On behalf of the faculty, staff and students, I apologize deeply for the hurt that has been caused for so many by the insensitive acts of a few students.”
More people than we know will be hurt by these deplorable acts. The pictures shown below are proof of the damage that has been done to the university as a whole.
Before I came to college I spent a year working in a law firm. During my time there I learned a lot about other people. In your chosen career you are going to have to work with people that you don’t like. You are going to have to assess who you are and how you treat other people. Actions like this one are not an acceptable way to behave.
That brings me back to the simple statement — everyone is different. Now is the time to decide what type of person you are going to be. Life is a celebration of differences. Maybe we should all start treating it that way.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Nov 9 2001. Filed under Opinion.
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