[Educationforall] Racism at UCSD--another reason to fight budgetcuts

[Sarah Pitcher]

Thanks for sharing, Justin.  I also read somewhere that there are only about
200 black students on that campus.  This is a testament to the failures of
supposedly trying to only focus on social class, instead of understanding the
intersections of race, gender, etc... for denying access to particular
students.   To be honest, I think all fraternities & sororities are
unofficially sanctioned by colleges/universities.  It is then their
responsibility to reprimand them for their behaviors.  

 

Just my two cents....

Sarah

 

From: Justin Akers Chacón [mailto:justinakers at cox.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 4:57 PM
To: educationforall at lists.aktivix.org
Subject: [Educationforall] Racism at UCSD--another reason to fight budgetcuts

 

Open racism (like this disgusting display at UCSD against African-Americans)
results in part from the way academic segregationist policies like the
dismantling of Affirmative Action and the on-going budget cuts
disproportionately target and exclude low-income students and students of
color. This reinforces and encourages the corporate, white supremacist
culture that pervades elite institutions. 

 

Outrage over UCSD party mocking black culture

By Eleanor Yang Su <http://www.signonsandiego.com/staff/eleanor-yang-su/> ,
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

LA JOLLA ? A weekend party that involved University of California San Diego
students and mocked Black History Month has drawn the ire of black students
and prompted a condemnation sent to all students and faculty by the
chancellor.

An invitation to the "Compton Cookout" event urged participants to wear
chains, don cheap clothes and speak very loudly, according to wording
circulated by outraged students and verified by campus administrators.

As a guide for girls attending the event, the invitation read, "For those of
you who are unfamiliar with ghetto chicks ? Ghetto chicks usually have gold
teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes." ??

Several disgusted students and faculty met with campus administrators last
night about the event, which was linked to members of a fraternity.

"These are the people I go to school with and knowing that they're mocking my
culture and the history of black people is really offensive," said UCSD
sophomore Elize Diop of Los Angeles. ?I would like to see the fraternity get
reprimanded.'

Campus officials say they likely won't discipline any students associated
with the event.

"Because it wasn't a UCSD-sanctioned event, or run by a student organization,
it doesn't appear that there was a technical violation,? said Jeff Gattas,
UCSD?s executive director of communications and public affairs. 'At this
point, we don't have a reason to penalize them.?

Marye Anne Fox, the campus chancellor, learned about the event yesterday
morning, Gattas said, and e-mailed a statement to 29,000 students and 26,000
staff.

"We were distressed to learn that over the weekend an offensively themed
student party, mocking the commemoration of Black History Month, took place
off campus," her statement read. "We strongly condemn this event and the
blatant disregard of our campus values.?

She urged students and staff to attend a teach-in on Feb. 24 "to explore how
such incidents continue to occur today and to discuss the importance of
mutual respect and civility on our campus."

Some faculty members said the party is all the more damaging for the
university because of its long struggle in recruiting black students and
professors. Blacks make up less than 2 percent of undergraduates.

"I think that the extremely small number of black students and faculty we
have and the invisibility of a curriculum focused on the black community and
its history makes it easier for this kind of event to take place," said Jorge
Mariscal, a literature professor. "There?s something about the climate here
that drives black students away."

The university publicly identified the party planners only as a group of
students.

But an e-mail obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune from Gary Ratcliff,
assistant vice chancellor for student life, linked the event to Pi Kappa
Alpha fraternity.

?It was not an official Pike event, but the students who posted it on
Facebook were members of Pike and other frats,? he wrote.

Ratcliff did not return calls.

Members of the fraternity declined to answer questions, saying that their
president would be releasing a statement, although none was issued by
deadline.

Spencer Washom, a member who graduated in December, said the fraternity is
known for having strong athletics, organizing philanthropic events and being
diverse.

?I never really found someone who wasn?t courteous or respectful of other
people,? Washom said. ?I couldn?t see someone doing anything deliberately
racist.?

Eleanor Yang Su: (619) 293-1840; eleanor.su at uniontrib.com
<mailto:eleanor.su at uniontrib.com> 

 

 




	
 

	

 

 

Find this article at: 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/17/outrage-expressed-over-party

 

 

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