WASHINGTON — Their reputations sullied by race-tainted incidents, many colleges are clamping down on campus fraternities. Despite some swift and tough actions by schools — and in some cases, public humiliation — episodes such as the racist chants by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of Oklahoma keep surfacing.
In recent years, numerous other fraternities have been suspended and students expelled from school for racially tinged parties or behavior, such as hanging nooses or shouting racial profanities.
“All too often the outcry has been, ‘Look at those bad apples we need to root out,’” said Nolan L. Cabrera, a professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. “When in fact the conversation we need to have is, ‘Why is this occurring on such a widespread level throughout the country?’”
Many incidents come to light after the students themselves post pictures or videos online, drawing public attention; others are reported by onlookers or whistleblowers.
Either way, “it’s hard to ignore a current on many, many campuses of behaviors that are just offensive and disgusting at the far end and maybe just lack common sense at the other end,” said Kevin Kruger, president of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, a professional organization.
For example, Sigma Alpha Epsilon suspended all activity at Clemson University in South Carolina in December after White students dressed as gang members at a “Cripmas” party. That same month Phi Delta Theta halted its chapter at the University of Pennsylvania for issuing a holiday card with members posing with what it called a Beyonce sex doll.
Other examples:
