[Kevin]

Austin American Statesman
February 11, 2003, Tuesday

Photos spark UT fraternity inquiry
Two chapters under scrutiny for party costumes seen as racially offensive

Erik Rodriguez, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

The University of Texas is investigating the Phi Gamma Delta and Kappa Alpha fraternities for hosting parties in which fraternity members and guests were photographed wearing costumes considered offensive to African Americans.

UT Dean of Students Teresa Graham Brett said she began investigating the fraternities after students came forward Friday with photos of partygoers wearing satirical costumes of rappers with exaggerated features. On Monday, officials with Kappa Alpha's national office said they have suspended the UT chapter's charter and are conducting their own investigation. "We find
that offensive, and if it occurred, it definitely would be a violation of our laws and customs," said Todd Shelton, a national Kappa Alpha spokesman.

The investigation marks the most recent problem for fraternities on the UT campus and the latest in a series of racially charged incidents over the past several weeks. Some students say the incident is an example of growing tensions on campus.

Administrators note that such hot-button issues as affirmative action and a possible war in Iraq -- students are planning a walkout Wednesday -- also may be prompting more passionate reactions from students.

Captions on the fraternity photos, included in an e-mail from UT students to media outlets, indicated they were taken at Halloween 2002 parties and at a party Jan. 31.

In one picture, a white man is covered in black paint, wearing a thick chain with a padlock around his neck Its alumni include Confederate Civil War Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Brett said that it's too early to know what action, if any, will be taken against Kappa Alpha, but noted that the disclosure of the photos is bad for the UT community.

"It adds to a negative environment on campus," she said. "It heightens the racial tensions of a number of incidents that have taken place."

In January, the Martin Luther King Jr. statue and several buildings. "This is someone who has jurisdiction over us. He can arrest us."

UT Police Chief Jeffrey Van Slyke said the ID checks are standard procedure for anyone on the third, fourth or fifth floors of the Union and that police have stepped up patrols in light of recent reports of vagrants and thefts at the facility.

"The officer was just trying to do his job," said Van Slyke, who noted that by August, all UT police officers will have at least 32 hours of training on racial profiling. "We do it regardless of what race or gender you are."

Other students said they were angry because they said UT police had refused to provide security for an upcoming "Soul Night" event sponsored by the Multicultural Information Center. Van Slyke said the department was spread thin but has found a way to staff the event.

"The tension, I believe, is a culmination of a lot of issues that are
occurring," Van Slyke said. "Everybody's tense."

Brett said affirmative action debates at UT and the University of Michigan -- whose affirmative action admissions policies are before the Supreme Court and under fire from the Bush administration -- may be creating an atmosphere of tension.

"In many ways, these incidents really do highlight what's under the surface that people don't talk about," she said. "Perhaps there is a way we can use the energy that's come from these events to create some much more positive dialogue."

Copyright 2003 The Austin American Statesman