MLK Party at Tarleton State

[starang21]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.29f6e79.html

STEPHENVILLE - The president of the Tarleton State University chapter of the NAACP said Wednesday 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 Wednesday night.
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.


not like this kind of thing surprises me these days. i'm just mad the dude apologized and took the pics down. lol, he should be strong in his convictions.