Arizona State University - TKE

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Kevin

...racial insensitivity won't get anyone physically hurt or killed.

If you believe that then your head is up your ass. What world do you live in?

And the fact that you believe that confirms that the larger issue that needs discussion is racial cluelessness and dumbassness---if the prevalence of these events is of concern rather than merely seeing this as further evidence of Greek Life problems.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

If you believe that then your head is up your ass. What world do you live in?

And the fact that you believe that confirms that the larger issue that needs discussion is racial cluelessness and dumbassness---if the prevalence of these events is of concern rather than merely seeing this as further evidence of Greek Life problems.

One incident or even a few =/= a prevalence.

TKE did something very ill advised, Alpha Delta Phi, Alpha Sigma Phi, Chi Phi, Delta Chi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Omega Delta Phi, Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Beta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Tau Gamma, Theta Chi, Theta Delta Chi and Zeta Beta Tau did no such thing.

You've got to keep things in perspective.

And in other news, ASU has severed ties with TKE, but it appears the TKE chapter will stay at ASU and just be undergroundish, no university support, but full support from the home office.

[AOII Angel]

I think none of us wanted to get into a discussion of why young white students feel the need to be racially insensitive. Personally I feel it is because they are ignorant. The AZ Greek Life discussion is an ongoing underlying thread that many of us have been following for awhile now. This is just more kindling on the fire.

[Sciencewoman]

Given the fact that several moms in the Indiana recruitment thread couldn't understand why weather-cancelled recruitment parties weren't rescheduled on the "open" MLK Day, DrPhil's point about the larger issue has a lot of merit. As much as I support GLOs, the mere suggestion that sorority rush should take precedence over a hard-won day of recognition is incredibly offensive to me.

Since this is GreekChat, it also makes sense that GCers are concerned about this incident as it particularly relates to fraternity members and the larger fraternity community.

[AZTheta]

Here's a new article about the SAE chapter at the University of Arizona.

You guys can argue all you want. There is a HUGE problem here in Arizona, in general, with the behavior of the Greeks (male AND female).

Personally, I think that having a racially insensitive party speaks volumes, all of which are negative. And racial insensitivity can be linked to physical harm and death. That is a no-brainer. Would this TKE action have gotten so much attention had it been a non-Greek party? Given the current climate, I don't know. I do know that this has given the ABOR more ammunition to shutter the system, if they are so inclined. And I do care very much about the Greek system at the University of Arizona.

[Kevin]

TKE at Arizona State Official Statement
Indianapolis, IN – The leadership of Tau Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity publicly issues the following statement in regard to the alleged incident that occurred at Arizona State University on January 20th, 2014.

Tau Kappa Epsilon does not condone or support any actions by its members that would be defined as racist, discriminatory, and/or offensive. Social events with "party themes" that are defined as such have no place in our fraternity's mission or purpose. It is with embarrassment and regret when a few individuals within our organization make decisions that do not align with the values and principles of Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Since 1899, our fraternity has taken much pride in the diversity and uniqueness of our membership. Tau Kappa Epsilon has never had an exclusionary clause in our membership. Our founders believed, as we do today, in the personal worth and character of the individual, not his wealth, rank, or honor. We take great pride in having members who were and are still advocates of civil rights movements in the United States. We celebrate all men and women of all races, genders, creeds, orientations, and beliefs who strive each day to make the world a better place.

We apologize for any offensive actions that a few of our members might have participated in. We can assure all other parties that these actions do not represent Tau Kappa Epsilon and the beliefs of love, charity, and esteem that we have stood by for 115 years. We will respond to these individuals while holding the utmost respect for our principles of being Better Men for a Better World.

A member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity professional staff is currently on-site at Arizona State University to begin an investigation. We have been working with university officials since we became aware of the alleged incident.

For more information, please contact:

Alex Baker
Chief Information Officer
Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
317-872-6533
tkeogc@tke.org

[Kevin]

I'm not even talking about the party. It's the point that of the many things wrong at ASU, this is probably one of the more insignificant issues. No one is going to die because of a racially themed party. Someone might die form hazing or alcohol or drug abuse.

The most stunning thing here (and not really a surprise considering TKE is TKE) is that TKE didn't disband the chapter immediately upon the university withdrawing recognition.

As some have said here, ASU greek life has issues. The Sigma Nu chapter there was caught hazing and was shut down immediately by both the school and HQ.

Sure, racially themed parties are bad. TKE is now off campus. The pound have flesh has been taken. These calls to expel students are ridiculous.

[DrPhil]

Anyway, you all have fun talking about ASU Greek Life.

[ASUADPi]

I graduated from Arizona State and I was not "privileged" as someone stated. If that were the case I wouldn't owe over 20K just for my undergraduate degree.

I also want to point out that when Crow took over as president in 2002, it became apparent then that Greek Life was going to be targeted. Crow is ANTI-GREEK, so therefore Greek Life was ALWAYS going to be on his radar.

As someone else pointed out, there are at least 10 other fraternities who aren't in trouble with ASU, so saying that because TKE has a bunch of dumbasses in it, that the remaining fraternities are full of dumbasses as well.

Yes, as a Greek, I am concerned, particularly how this will effect the sororities at ASU. I am also concerned, like AZtheta said, about how the ABOR will look at the Greek Life systems at UA and NAU. I, like AZtheta, would hate for something to happen at the other schools (as I was initiated at UA).

ASU has had the reputation of being a party school since before I was in college! One thing though is that, at least when I was there, enrollment was over 75,000 and that was just on main campus! I'm guessing that maybe only 5% of that population are Greek. All the stuff that happens on that campus aren't always from the Greeks.

[als463]

One thing that really made me sad was to see people throw hateful statements about Greeks overall and even TKE nationally because a few undergrads made some really poor choices. I even saw other fraternity men (in other GLOs) go out of their way to put TKE down as a national organization because of this bad decision made by the ASU chapter.