Whether or not this is true, it is a shame that we still have to deal with situations like these.
Oh my goodness. All the SAE brothers of color should have had something to say about that.
It makes a big difference, whether it is true or not.
May be a misunderstanding if it’s anything: [url=<a href=“http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/11/02/sae-denies-charges-of-racism/%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/11/02/sae-denies-charges-of-racism/]here[/url] from Yale Daily News. If anything, from what was reported - an overheard remark reported second hand - then it didn’t represent what the frat was doing or a policy or anything. If anything, assuming the remark was even heard correctly, it may have been a joke to a friend by one person but it didn’t represent the frat. And that’s assuming the words were heard correctly given that it was a party, may have been loud and the words weren’t said to the person who then told them to the person who then wrote about it.
I read a couple of stories about this, and if I’m reading correctly the fraternity has an open door policy until the house starts to get full, at which point they bar the door and only allow people to enter based on the invitation of a member. That invitation might be to a girl a guy thinks is attractive or to someone he knows. Such a system invariably leads people to think they have been discriminated against. The girl who was turned away heard someone in the background say something. Maybe they did or maybe they didn’t, but if she had just said, “I’m a friend of X” they likely would have gotten her friend for her and she would have been invited in.
If she didn’t know a single person in the fraternity, what was she doing there?
^ Those uppity coloreds – always wanting to go places they’re not invited to…
SMH
Look: I agree that this scenario may have been blown out of proportion but EarlVanDorn’s question “If she didn’t know a single person in the fraternity, what was she doing there?” is staggeringly shocking.
@T26E4 Open fraternity parties cause nothing but trouble, as illustrated by the above situation. An IFC rule that all fraternity parties be closed, with a hired security guard on the door holding a guest list, solves the problem. Members can simply list every friend they have in the world. If somebody isn’t on the list they can ask for a member who knows them to admit them. With the exception of pre-rush events, no good can come from allowing a bunch of strangers who know not a single member into one’s fraternity house.
Earl: the point isn’t to debate how to best host a party – which I agree can be quite complex. But asking your question in the context of a possible blatant racist incident (which I agree isn’t definitive at this point and may not be) strikes me as off the mark; insensitive.
Why is asking what someone is doing at a party if they don’t know a single person there insensitive and “staggeringly shocking”? I wouldn’t be caught dead at a party where I didn’t know someone.
I think you must be easy to shock. So many microaggressions, so little time to be offended.
I would venture that a good number of students consider parties to be ideal places to meet new people.
Perhaps some are outgoing enough that they would go to a party with nobody they knew attending. I wouldn’t have ever considered it, as I am somewhat introverted.
However, it’s not exactly staggeringly shocking and insensitive to ask why.
Those parties are more in the category of “things to do” and “where someone x may be going”. They’re really impersonal, more over-crowded open houses than parties with friends and acquaintances.
The annoying part of this story is the similarity with the other nothing blown up into something on campus: the Halloween costume issue that’s a thread in the Parents’ Forum. In this case, a possible overheard comment reported secondhand becomes an indictment of an entire organization and in the other a harmless email suggesting people try not to take offense at Halloween costumes in the spirit of the holiday is taken as creating such an unsafe situation that students screamed insults at a professor and some are apparently demanding to move colleges.
My general reaction is that Yale is making some admissions errors. They always did. Look at me.
@busdriver11 asked
In this context (the possible racist insult), it’s akin to asking a rape victim “Why were you at that party unattended? And why were you dressed as provocatively as you were?”
Who CARES if a person was invited or not or knew anyone at the party or not? Even if someone were simply walking by, does that excuse possible racist behavior?
For EVD to ask “what was she doing there” is, IMHO, shows enormous lack of empathy and, based on the theme of other posts, a lack of even the slightest desire to understand. To that poster, the possible hearer of the alleged racist slur had no business being nearby to hear it.
To him, it’s simply another incident in a long line of black whining.
How about saying: “no one had any business uttering it” or “I hope it was a misunderstanding” or “if someone did say it, I hope he gets what he deserves”??? Didja miss those points?
I think this is not the fault of any one person, but rather the contradiction of the media reporting “truth” while gaining viewers. Objectivity in media is about as real as bigfoot in New York.
OBVIOUSLY. It’s a frat party. People will go to it because, I don’t know…there’ll be drinks? Music? Other students? Maybe food? Maybe you have some friends there at the party even though you don’t know any of the fraternity members?
If you’re at a typical frat party, no one is going to ask why you’re there. They don’t know who you are or who you came with (or didn’t). It’s a party.
Now, if you’re the host of a party and invited only people you know, ok legitimate question. Other than that, I can’t imagine any scenario where someone would legitimately ask why you’re there unless it’s a pickup line or you’re “out of place” (and this can mean a number of different things including but not limited to race).
Wasn’t this the same fraternity with the horribly racist bus video a few months ago? And I remember from my own college days that women referred to this fraternity as “Sexist A**** Every-one” after they rallied in favor of a campus convicted sexual harasser with signs saying, “She wanted it”. In fact, now that I think of it, is this the same house with those offensive pro-rape signs as well? Why are we surprised?
"In this context (the possible racist insult), it’s akin to asking a rape victim “Why were you at that party unattended? And why were you dressed as provocatively as you were?”
Comparing a possible racist comment (that you don’t even know existed) to something accusing said to a rape victim? Ugh.
“Who CARES if a person was invited or not or knew anyone at the party or not? Even if someone were simply walking by, does that excuse possible racist behavior?”
Asking a question of why someone is trying to get into a party where they don’t know anyone isn’t excusing racist behavior. It’s just asking a question.
“For EVD to ask “what was she doing there” is, IMHO, shows enormous lack of empathy and, based on the theme of other posts, a lack of even the slightest desire to understand. To that poster, the possible hearer of the alleged racist slur had no business being nearby to hear it.To him, it’s simply another incident in a long line of black whining.”
How do you know that? He didn’t say that in this thread, is it another thread he has posted in that you’re referring to? Or are you taking one comment that offends you, in the worst possible context, and making up an entire back story about it?
“How about saying: “no one had any business uttering it” or “I hope it was a misunderstanding” or “if someone did say it, I hope he gets what he deserves”??? Didja miss those points?”
Telling people what they should or should not be saying? Kind of creepy here. Here’s a suggestion that you might say, since we’re telling people what to say now, “It makes a difference whether or not this story is true.” Or then again, maybe it doesn’t to you.
"If you’re at a typical frat party, no one is going to ask why you’re there. They don’t know who you are or who you came with (or didn’t). It’s a party.
Now, if you’re the host of a party and invited only people you know, ok legitimate question. Other than that, I can’t imagine any scenario where someone would legitimately ask why you’re there unless it’s a pickup line or you’re “out of place” (and this can mean a number of different things including but not limited to race)."
I guess who knows what people are going to ask…I’m assuming they’re mostly drunk. Asking someone who they know in the frat seems like a logical question for conversation. But the issue supposedly was, they were turned away at the door (apparently by a black fraternity member). At my son’s fraternity parties, I don’t think they turn away women, any women. But the only way a guy is going to get in is if he’s a friend of someone in the fraternity, or has a number of women with him (any shape, size or color)!
I object to the comment above “isn’t this the same fraternity …” considering that was in Oklahoma. Talk about tarring people with a broad brush! How exactly are kids in New Haven, CT responsible for what kids in Oklahoma did?