A Johns Hopkins University fraternity that sponsored a
Halloween party publicized with an invitation appealing to
racial stereotypes has been found guilty of breaking
university rules and on Nov. 20 was placed on social
probation until January 2008.
The Sigma Chi chapter is barred from hosting parties
and holding other social activities during its probation.
To ensure better control over chapter activities, Sigma Chi
also has been ordered to recruit four adult advisers
— two alumni and two nonalumni — and to
incorporate a diversity component into its new members
program, including four on-campus cultural events and four
off-campus cultural events. The chapter was also ordered to
comply with university party registration requirements once
its probation ends.
The sanctions were imposed by a Student Conduct Board
hearing panel — three students and two staff members
— convened to consider charges filed after a
university investigation of the circumstances surrounding
the party and the Internet invitation posted by a
fraternity member. The board found the chapter responsible
on all charges filed against it by the administration.
Though the university is announcing the sanctions
against the fraternity as an organization, it cannot,
because of federal privacy law, disclose disciplinary
proceedings against any individual student. The student who
posted the invitation on the Internet, the social chairman
of the chapter, disclosed in the Nov. 10 issue of The Johns
Hopkins News-Letter, the student newspaper, that he had
been charged as an individual under the Student Conduct
Code. These charges were also heard and addressed by the
board.
The Oct. 28 party at a 33rd Street house rented by
fraternity members was publicized by an invitation posted
on the Johns Hopkins section of the Web site Facebook.com,
an invitation that referred to a "Halloween in the Hood"
theme and made broad stereotypical references to
African-Americans and derogatory references to
Baltimore.
According to a statement from the university's Office
of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Programs, the
university's Greek life coordinator found the invitation
online and ordered it removed from Facebook. Though the
invitation was taken down for several hours, it was later
reposted in slightly altered form and with the same
offensive language.
The OEO/AA Office statement said that the university
investigation found that the invitations "did contain
statements that invoked stereotypes of African-Americans,
residents of Baltimore and victims of HIV." It said,
however, that there was "insufficient evidence" to support
assertions that activities at the party itself constituted
racial harassment. It also said that testimony at the
hearing did not support allegations that a plastic skeleton
Halloween decoration in pirate costume hanging on the
house's front porch was intended to invoke racial
lynching.
The OEO/AA Office consulted with the Office of the
Dean of Student Life during the investigation, observed the
hearing and provided guidance to the hearing panel on the
university's anti-harassment policy.
The Student Conduct Board panel convened on Thursday,
Nov. 16, and heard about three and a half hours of
testimony. It then deliberated for nearly four hours before
finding the Sigma Chi chapter responsible on all charges
and deciding on the sanctions. A letter detailing the
findings and the sanctions was provided to the fraternity
on Monday and took immediate effect.
The board found that the chapter, as an organization,
had failed to exercise appropriate supervision over the
member who posted the invitation, resulting in actions
taken on the chapter's behalf that failed to respect the
rights of others, that constituted harassment and
intimidation under university policy, that violated the
express directions of a university administrator and that
harmed the university's reputation. The board also found
that the party itself was held in violation of university
party registration requirements.
The chapter, which formed at Johns Hopkins in 2002,
has the right to appeal to the dean of student life.
The statement of The Johns Hopkins University's Office
of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Programs
regarding Sigma Chi Fraternity's 2006 Halloween party and
related allegations can be found at
www.jhu.edu/news/univ06/nov06/oeostatement.html.
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