Tarleton

[BullFrog Dad]

Tarleton State students upset over MLK party


Associated Press

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STEPHENVILLE — The president of the Tarleton State University chapter of the NAACP said today that he and other students are upset about a Martin Luther King Day party where students ate fried chicken, drank malt liquor and dressed in faux gang apparel.

"I feel like there is no excuse for this type of ignorance," said Donald Ray Elder, a Tarleton State sophomore and president of the school's NAACP chapter.

Pictures posted on Facebook.com showed partygoers wearing afro wigs and fake gold and silver teeth. One photo showed students "mocking how African-Americans do step shows," Elder said. In another picture, a student is dressed as Aunt Jemima and carries a gun.

"That upsets me," Elder said. "That's someone who knows nothing about Dr. King because Dr. King was totally about nonviolence."

The school plans to investigate and "if there is a policy violation, then our process will be followed," said Wanda Mercer, the school's vice president of student life. A university-sponsored forum to address the issue was scheduled for tonight.

The president of the school's Lambda Chi Alpha chapter said the Jan. 15 party was at the residence of one of its members but denied the fraternity had anything to do with it. Students from at least seven other campus groups also attended the party, said Devan Hanson, the fraternity president.

"I think it was wrong for them to do and inappropriate," Hanson said. "And I think the individuals should be responsible for their own actions."

Tarleton State President Dennis P. McCabe said the photographs were reprehensible.

"I am personally insulted by these photographs and am disappointed that Tarleton students have demonstrated such insensitivity," he said.

The Stephenville Empire-Tribune reported that Elder sent an e-mail to the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity member who posted the pictures. The fraternity member apologized and removed the pictures from his Web site, but not before Elder downloaded them onto a disk.

Stephenville is about 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

[mistanice]

Happened here in college station too. i believe they called their party 40's and Fried Chicken.

[jason]

i thought about posting something about this, but i decided not to, but since the can has been opened....

im not going to say what i think about this, simply because im not a moron...

i have seen the pics, i know the people who were involved...the one thing i will say is that a bigger deal is being made out of it than what probably should have been...

THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER WRITTEN TO THE TARLETON STATE COMMUNITY FROM PRESIDENT DR. DENNIS McCABE

To the University Community,

I have just learned that some of our students posted photographs to their personal facebook sites which, I believe, most Tarleton students would find objectionable, as these photographs denigrate the Martin Luther King holiday and African American culture. I am personally insulted by these photographs and am disappointed that Tarleton students have demonstrated such insensitivity. I am aware that every person has a constitutional right of free speech. As President of Tarleton State University, I will condemn speech which I find reprehensible.

Tarleton chose the topics Civility, Integrity and Diversity as a theme for this school year. Student, faculty and staff leaders spoke about the importance of these values in a variety of settings during Freshman Orientation and a number of programs have been held throughout the fall semester, which reinforce these ideas. It is Tarleton’s expectation that students learn to act with civility on and off the campus, and we will use this incident as an opportunity to reinforce that value.

We are planning a University Forum Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM in the Thompson Student Center to provide the university community an opportunity to dialogue about this issue. I believe this is an important step toward healing among our students, faculty and staff members.

I regret that any of our students have been hurt by the display of these photographs. The students involved have removed them and have expressed regret over offending their fellow students.

Dr. King’s vision for the world was that people be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I challenge students to make character an important priority as they pursue their studies at Tarleton.



Dennis P. McCabe, President
Tarleton State University

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here is the 'aunt jemima' pic that is referred to in the article....

i will not make any further comments on this subject...

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/5692/n555027213044509069094br.jpg

[BIG BLUE DEFENSIVE END]

I don't see the gun in that picture. How was that party, Jason? haha

[mistanice]

her pic is posted on the Smoking Gun website without any censorship. WE KNOW WHO SHE IS!