And the Blackest Chi Omega Award Goes To...
 

Following reactions by black student groups over an award at its formal, Chi Omega can no longer have social events pending an upcoming meeting.

During the awards ceremony at the Chi Omega formal Saturday in the Student Center Ballroom, a Chi Omega member received the title of "Blackest Chi Omega." She is white.

Senior biology major Candice Poole was catering the event as a student manager for specials. She is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta, a black sorority. While at the formal, she said she didn't see any other black women there.

"I felt like I got slapped in the face," she said.

After the event, she said she asked a Chi Omega member at Glory Days what the award was about.

"She said, 'Oh, you mean most ghetto?'" Poole said.

She said she contacted her president, Patrice DeLeon, about the matter the next day.

DeLeon said she contacted Sasha Parker, political officer and grievances chair for Black United Students; Shanelle Smith, president of Kent State NAACP; and Della Marie Marshall, associate director of Campus Life. Marshall had them speak to Sheryl Smith, associate dean of students and director of the Center for Student Involvement. The Panhellenic Council had members from BUS, the Kent State NAACP and Zeta Phi Beta attend its Monday meeting to discuss the issue.

There will be another meeting this week among the groups where they can all voice their concerns, Marshall said. A time and place for the meeting are not available at this time.

Sheryl Smith said she gave Chi Omega a cease and desist directive, which halts all social events and community service. It may only hold business meetings with at least one adviser present.

Chi Omega is not suspended or expelled, she said. The directive is a common step for her, Sheryl Smith said, when there is a relatively serious incident that needs a closer look. It stops all activity for the group to allow time for her to look into the matter and give the group an opportunity to deal with what happened.

She said the sorority will have a face-to-face meeting with the black student groups and offer an apology. She said there will also be racial and sensitivity training. There is a possibility of other student leaders taking such training, she added.

Parker, Shanelle Smith and DeLeon said they like the idea of sensitivity training because an apology isn't enough.

Being a black woman, Parker said she has to live with stereotypes everyday. Having someone from outside her race perpetuate the stereotypes for entertainment makes them worse, she said.

"They didn't think it was going to be a big deal," she said. "It may have been all in good fun, but it wasn't for us."

Shanelle Smith said she wants some explanations at the meeting this week. She said she wants to know why Chi Omega had this award and what the exact requirements were to win "Blackest Chi Omega."

"I'm going to tell them how it feels to be black," she said. "It's not something you can ever change. When someone offends us like that, we're going to let you know."

She added she was unsure if the sorority realized there are about 1,300 black students on campus. Having an award like that is ignorant and insensitive to them, she said.

Marisa Stroud, president of Chi Omega, had a statement from the national organization.

"There was an inappropriate comment made at a Chi Omega event last weekend," she read. "We apologize to those who were offended. The chapter has reported the incident to the national organization. The national organization has investigated the situation and will take appropriate action with the chapter."

Stroud said she could say nothing more at this time.

Marshall said the award, though not thought out well, was probably not meant to be malicious.

"People just weren't thinking," she said. "This is a teachable moment for all."

Parker and Shanelle Smith said they didn't consider it a racist issue. Instead, they said it was insensitive to the black community on campus.

Students need to realize blacks are people, not a fad or a style, Poole said. She said being black is not something someone can attain.

"What they don't understand is there are other aspects to being black," she said. "I am black 100 percent of the time, even when it's not to my advantage."

Contact minority affairs reporter Bryan Wroten at bwroten@kent.edu.
Page 1 of 1

Article

Wow :eek: :( :o

Amen

Wow.

This article reads as the entirety of Chi Omega, all quarter million of them, cannot have activities (which I knew wasn't the case, but without the source, it's difficult to tell). It took me a min. to realize that it's at Kent State. I didn't see Kent anywhere in the article. It's sort of confusing because the source isn't stated until you click on the link.


Edited for spelling.:p

Yeah, not the most well written article.

But oh boy, this chapter is in trouble... not a good thing to do at all....

HOnestly I have no words.

:(. Not good.

Finally a sorority gets in trouble.

-Rudey

And it's not in the South.

There are stupid people everywhere.

:( :( :mad: :mad: Seriously not good.

Yup - of all place, it's at Kent State.

-Rudey

WTH are people smoking/drinking these days?
:( :mad: :( :mad:

Dang! :eek:

And I used to attend Kent State too.

One thing I do know of: that Black United Students (BUS) will not hesitate to "get in dat [tail]" when there is even a hint of racial injustice, especially when it occurs on campus.

I'm pretty sure that BUS will (for the time being, anyway) be keeping a sharp eye on Chi-O 24/7.

Wow. This is not good. At all.:( :( :mad: :mad: :eek: :eek:

I also have a question. How can Candice be a member of Chi Omega and Z Phi B? Is that possible?:confused:

Candace is a Zeta Phi Beta, who happened to be catering the event. She's not a Chi-O, and I had to read the line a few times to catch that. Not a well written article.

She's not. She was catering the event and happened to be a member of Zeta Phi Beta. That she's a member of a HBGLO is not something which I find particularly relevant. I'm not sure why that was even included in the article.

It was included because that's the PC of saying that she's black and therefore had reason to be offended. Because the author would probably recieve some comments about their own racial issues or biases if they had put, Candice So and So, a black student at Kent State.....

Couldn't a non-black student have been just as offended by this? I certainly am.

I am as well.

I've always been weary of people using the word "ghetto" in the dumbest, most ignorant of contexts.

Two things I've never understood:

1) Why people use "ghetto" to describe anything less educated, less refined, or anything having to do with a particular music, art or style.


2) Why "ghetto" automatically means "black"....

Because they have a very limited understanding of history.

agreed.

I can't belive that one ran through the sorority censors-- surely someone voting for that particular category or an adviser present-- SOMEONE-- would have had the sense to demonstrate why that is in such poor taste! Shame on those members. My Chi Omega friends from undergrad would be absolutely horrified if someone ever tried to pull that!

Why? Try MTV or BET.

Our advisors were never at formals and they certainly had nothing to do with making up award titles. It just shows how prevalent misusage of this word has become that no one thought anything of it.

I'm not sure I get your connection...you mean because they play videos with black people in them? I would argue that those people are far more well off than the majority of the population and therefore the opposite of ghetto, if one takes ghetto to mean poor.

Thanks for the clarification. From the way I read it, it sounded like she was in both. Whoever wrote this needs to be in (back) in Journalism 101.:o

oh man.. that is bad.

Once again Crap from said reports is misconstrued and everyone gets Shorts in a bundle.:(

Sounds like a "Cough" BS Report!

Always a Black and White thing isnt it!:(

It's not my intention to hijack this thread but I wanted to make a comment on why this 'award' may have been viewed as being appropriate. I'm not a racial demagogue but I do know that there is an imbalance in power in the broader society as it relates to this issue. As a black person, we are raised--or those of us who blessed to have such "raising"--to know that we will be often prejudged in all kinds of circumstances about our intelligence, morals,criminality,etc.; therefore one must dress appropriately, comport ourselves appropriately, speak Standard English, learn the social mores and customs of the wider society, be willing to fit in by taking up certain hobbies to make your way in the professional world, and be circumspect in our speech. This is how we deal with the so-called "Black Tax."

But for most whites, their livelihood or professional well-being is not related whatsoever to people of color. Thus there is a type of social invisibility when it comes to the calculus of racial sensitivity(I detest that term!) and the possibility of censure or receiving a sanction that harms them. This is especially true within the confines of homogenous social groups where this invisibility has free reign of expression. Only when an "interloper" actually calls them on this and there's some threat of censure by some body that does exercise authority over them is the offending behaviour or act become important. In reality, often this type of thing goes on without a hitch if they think a potentially offended party has no power or social standing, or someone they can appeal to, that is, if they are even aware of the ramifications of what they are doing.

WOW, Impressive. My thoughts only but am sure You will catch S**t over it.:(

Re: And the Blackest Chi Omega Award Goes To...
 

I'm bringing this up just to clarify to some of the previous posters that Candice Poole is a Caucasian student and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

After reading and re-reading this article (and being almost completely thrown off), my guess is that this story is controversial because a Caucasian female student (who also happens to be a member of an HBGLO) was given an award for being the "Blackest" (read: most ghetto) Chi Omega and she's not even a member of the org who gave the award. She just happened to cater the event. I agree with jitterbug13 that the writer must repeat Journalism 101.

Poor chile. :( This is really bad.....

You know, I'm probably going to catch shit from both sides, but f it:

It bothers me when people who aren't into hip-hop/urban culture mock it in an attempt to be either cool or funny. It doesn't matter what color the person is, but misusing the word "ghetto" is a big example of this.

I'm talking about the punk rocker guy who says his jeans are "really ghetto" because they're torn and ratty.

Or the group of editors I dealt with in HS who called one issue "ghetto" because the headlines and articles were in different fonts.

And in this case, the sorority girl who is called ghetto because she either listens to rap music (and the majority of her sisters don't), wears baggy clothes, or has "a lot of black friends".

That's my favorite one too....because I have a lot of black friends, I'm "ghetto".

I'm just saying, I can see where the connection is, and I can see where this award would upset Candace, because the "Black" award went to the most "ghetto" person in the group.

Re: Re: And the Blackest Chi Omega Award Goes To...
 

To clarify, Candice is black.

Re: Re: And the Blackest Chi Omega Award Goes To...
 

I thought it was a Z Phi B who catered the Chi O event and witnessed the award being presented and getting angered...not the Z Phi B WINNING the award.

It would've upset me to be called Black too.

Honestly, I think the stereotype that Black is "ghetto" is seen EVERY DAY. Do you never watch MTV or BET? Everytime I turn it on it's a trashy African American screaming, listening to rap music, having promiscous sex, talking almost exclusively about sex, making jokes about the white race (which you most certainly would know that whites could not make jokes about blacks), etc.

Bill Cosby is one of the few stand-up guys in the Black community. I really admire him.

That good good drow obviously... man she shoulda smacked the person who announced the award and the person who received the award... lmao


nah she did the right thing but man... its gonna be a price to pay for that one.

Are you freaking serious?

what if its the other way around? say someone in a multicultural organization recieves the "most whitest bread" award, what would happen?

Re: Re: Re: And the Blackest Chi Omega Award Goes To...
 

Zeta Phi Beta did not cater the event. There is an on-campus catering service offered to those who use the Kent Student Center's facilities, which is where the ballroom is. Candice, who is a member of Zeta Phi Beta, is a student manager for that catering service and was working during the formal.

I was under the impression that "ghetto" is any kind of ethnic trash other than Anglo or Celtic (that would be "white trash").

For example, Chinatown is "ghetto," unless it's a Chinatown in the suburbs, where homes are like $500,000+ in general. A Toronto girl of Chinese descent was recently quoted in a newspaper saying that she never goes to Chinatown unless she's clubbing (i.e. she'll never go sober).