UCSD frat party: laughing at stereotypes "fun"

This appeared in last night's San Diego Union-Tribune:

UCSD begins investigation of frat's race-mocking party

University of California San Diego officials have begun an investigation into the off-campus party held Monday that mocked Black History Month, and hope to decide within the next few weeks whether students involved with the event will be disciplined.
. . .
“The Fraternity regrets the display of ignorance and error-of-judgment made by any individual members who may have attended or were associated via social-media with the racially-offensive party,” Garron Engstrom, chapter president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, said in the statement.

Engstrom, who did not respond to requests for comment, noted the event was not an official fraternity event. He said disciplinary actions have been taken against members, and all members attending the party have been encouraged “to reach out to the African-American community.”
. . .
“The most important thing for me is having the students understand the impact of their actions on the rest of the community,” [Penny Rue, UCSD’s vice chancellor for student affairs] said. “And secondly, to understand what they were thinking.”

In an invitation circulated on Facebook, party organizers said they would be serving “Kegs of Natty, dat Purple Drank — which consists of sugar, water, and the color purple, chicken, coolade, and of course Watermelon.”

Male partygoers were urged in the invite to wear white T-shirts “XXXL smallest size acceptable.” Females were given this guidance: “Ghetto chicks have a very limited vocabulary, and attempt to make up for it, by forming new words, such as ‘constipulated’, or simply cursing persistently, or using other types of vulgarities, and making noises, such as ‘hmmg!’, or smacking their lips, and making other angry noises, grunts, and faces.”
. . .
Several UCSD students said they have been unimpressed by the university’s response, especially given the larger challenge it faces in recruiting black students, who make up less than 2 percent of undergraduates.

“The students are fed up,” said David Ritcherson, the head of UCSD’s Black Student Union. “The campus climate is horrible. People are thinking about transferring.”

Others say the administration has overreacted, and should not get involved with off-campus parties.

Bryan Kim, a UCSD senior from central California, said he had been planning to host a similar racially themed party this month tied to Black History Month. He wanted attendees to dress up as gangster rappers and participate in a costume contest judged by a black friend.

“People laugh at stereotypes because there’s an element of fun,” Kim said. “People need to get a sense of humor or they’re just going to spend their whole life being angry about things they can’t control.”

Meanwhile, a dollop of cynicism on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Politics blog:

State lawmakers take on UC San Diego frats

It's a long way from San Diego to Sacramento (believe us, we've driven it) but apparently state legislators still get invited to frat parties in California's southernmost city.

That's what we can glean from a press advisory sent out today informing reporters of a news conference Thursday hosted by Assistant Speaker pro Tempore Isadore Hall III, D-Compton, and several other members of the Democratic leadership team – including current Speaker Karen Bass and Speaker-elect John Perez, both Democrats from Los Angeles. (The L.A. area is closer to SD, we admit.)

The topic? Lawmakers will "publicly condemn a racially offensive student event hosted this past weekend by students of UC San Diego." The release goes on:

"The event called the, 'Compton Cookout' was organized by members of various Greek fraternal organizations and encouraged participants to mock Black History Month by promoting negative and offensive racial and gender stereotypes. ... Legislators will call upon university officials to investigate the organizers of the event and determine what sanctions; including suspension should be taken against the fraternity or fraternities responsible for the event."

Interestingly, the press conference organizers chose to attach said invite — further publicizing the comments, which seems a bit counter productive. We won't repeat anything, but, ya, it's offensive.

That said, fraternities do offensive stuff all the time – and this latest flap seems perfectly legal, albeit insensitive and racist, so we're not sure where state legislators fit in. But hey, why not jump on a story that's got legs?