GA State Pikes sue, win

[hoosier]

Fraternity, black group to return at Georgia State
Joint apology for fallout of blackface incident planned
Bill Rankin - Staff
Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Two Georgia State University student organizations at the heart of a racial dispute that sparked campus protest have settled their differences and will be allowed back on campus, officials said Tuesday.

The controversy erupted after two GSU fraternity members showed up with their faces painted black at a hip-hop theme party in January. A black student group retaliated with a flier using the fraternity's name, Pi Kappa Alpha, on a picture depicting a Ku Klux Klansman and a man in blackface with a noose around his neck.

The Black Student Alliance was suspended from campus because of the flier. Pi Kappa Alpha, which also was suspended, filed a federal lawsuit last week against top GSU officials, including school President Carl Patton.

But GSU officials now say the two groups have reached an agreement that allows both to return to campus.

The agreement, announced on the second day of classes by GSU vice president for student services Hazel Scott, calls on both Pi Kappa Alpha and the Black Student Alliance to apologize jointly to the GSU community and submit separate letters of apology to The Signal, the student newspaper. Pi Kappa Alpha also must implement a diversity and sensitivity training program and not permit any of its members to paint their faces black again.

Atlanta lawyer Thomas Venker, a GSU grad (class of '71) and a former Pi Kappa Alpha president, criticized his alma mater for the way it handled the matter. On Pi Kappa Alpha's behalf, Venker filed the federal lawsuit demanding GSU to drop the fraternity's suspension.

"The school never should have instituted the charges," said Venker, who said he may now dismiss the suit. "It should have had the students mediate their dispute. But every opportunity they had to calm this thing down, they threw gasoline on it instead."

The infamous party

On Jan. 24, Pi Kappa Alpha, which has about 70 members, hosted an off-campus hip-hop theme party called "Straight Outta Compton." Fraternity members were encouraged to wear "ghetto fabulous" hip-hop attire and two members, Joshua Shaw and Travis Coryell, showed up with their faces painted black. The two students never meant to ridicule hip-hop singers, they sought to emulate them, Venker said.

When Pi Kappa Alpha leaders saw Shaw and Coryell, they immediately told them to remove the paint because it might offend someone, the federal lawsuit said. The two students agreed and were on their way to clean their faces when they were seen by some African-American members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity who had been invited to the party, the lawsuit said.

Although Pi Kappa Alpha leaders apologized to Phi Beta Sigma the next day, a complaint was soon filed against Pi Kappa Alpha for "discriminatory harassment."

The controversial flier then began being circulated throughout GSU's campus. It included a photo of three white students --- one dressed up as a Ku Klux Klansman, another in a deer hunter's outfit holding a noose that hung around the neck of someone with his face painted black.

Even though the photo was taken at a party at Auburn University in 2001 and had nothing to do with the Jan. 24 hip-hop party, the flier read, "Happy black history month from your friends of [Pi Kappa Alpha]."

Robert Zarter, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, said he was astonished when he saw the flier.

"That was like inciting a riot," said Zarter, a senior. "From the get-go, we've always said it was in poor taste" for Shaw and Coryell to paint their faces.

In March, GSU held a community "dialogue" meeting at the student center. Racially insensitive insults were hurled at one African-American Pi Kappa Alpha member, the lawsuit said.

Over the summer, cooler heads prevailed, leading to the settlement.

Still, Zarter said, the incident has left a sour taste in his mouth. "I can't wait to graduate," he said. "You always know there are eyes burning you down from behind."

'We'll stand up again'

Although Shaw and Coryell were suspended by GSU in March, their suspensions were later reversed, the lawsuit said. The suspensions of Pi Kappa Alpha and the Black Student Alliance, handed down in April, were to remain in effect until Dec. 19.

Rashad Gibson, co-president of the Black Student Alliance, said he was satisfied with the settlement.

"But I don't have have any regrets for [Shaw and Coryell] being kicked off campus," he said. "I believe they got what they deserved."

Gibson said the Black Student Alliance regrets using the controversial flier and would not resort to such tactics in the future. But if the alliance ever sees similar behavior, Gibson said, "we'll stand up again."