Auburn University officials are now confronting two separate incidents in which fraternity members wore Halloween costumes that many deemed offensive because of their racial nature.
Auburn withdrew recognition of its chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity after members posed in photographs at a party wearing blackface and jerseys with letters of a black fraternity. The national Beta Theta Pi organization withdrew its recognition as well.
The Delta Sigma Phi national organization also temporarily suspended its chapter at Auburn in response to a separate Halloween party. At that party, at least one member dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member and another posed in blackface with a noose around his neck. Auburn officials have not yet withdrawn recognition of this chapter.
The Delta Sigma Phi national organization will publish its decision on the fate of its Auburn chapter via press release later today, Auburn Inter-Fraternity Council adviser Jamie Mantooth said.
Auburn officials said they do not yet know exactly what charges and ultimate penalties students involved in the incidents could face. They are awaiting the completion of an investigation to decide what actions to take.
Officials learned of the activities at both parties last week after a local photographer who Auburn fraternities and sororities hire to photograph events posted pictures of the events on the Internet, Mantooth said.
In total, 19 students were involved in the incidents.
Tomorrow, members of Delta Sigma Phi involved in the incident will go before the Auburn University Commission on Fraternities and Sororities and "present their case," and school officials will ask them questions, Mantooth said.
Members of Beta Theta Pi were supposed to go before the commission as well, but because the fraternity is now not recognized as an organization at Auburn, members will not be required to attend the hearing, he said.
Once this is done, the committee will recommend to the vice president for student affairs action to take, Mantooth added.
The activities at the party"[put] the entire university and the entire Greek system in a bad light," Mantooth said. "We will turn this into a positive, but it will take some time and some work."
At the University, officials expressed disapproval of the events at Auburn. They are "deplorable" and "would be totally unacceptable at the University of Virginia," said Aaron Laushway, assistant dean of students and director of the office of fraternity and sorority life.
"The kind of ignorance and bias suggested by these actions are totally inconsistent with life within the Academy and with the pursuit of truth and commitment to the life of the mind," Laushway said. The Academy refers to colleges and universities throughout the world.
Tyler Lassiter, president of the University's Beta Theta Pi chapter, shared Laushway's sentiments.
"I think it's pretty ridiculous [Beta Theta Pi fraternity members] would think something like that is funny," Lassiter said.
He said he thought these actions were not representative of the Beta Theta Pi organization as a whole.
"Racial diversity has never been a problem at our chapter," he said.
He added that he supported recent efforts at the University to improve communication between the four Greek governing councils.
One such event was the Oct. 19 "Comfort Zone" project. At "Comfort Zone," the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, both members of the Black Fraternal Council, joined Inter-Sorority Council member Gamma Phi Beta and Inter-Fraternity Council member Sigma Pi for an afternoon of service projects and a non-alcoholic evening party.
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