A group of activists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are calling for the suspension of two Greek organizations over a party they deemed “culturally insensitive.”
According to USA Today, the fraternity Acacia and the sorority Alpha Phi held a “Spring Break” themed party this month. Afterwards, photos surfaced on Facebook showing students wearing Arab keffiyehs, a sombrero, and Native America headdress.
This brought on a wave of students from various minority action groups at the university, including Students for Justice in Palestine and Black Students for Revolution, joining forces. The result was “Not Just a Party UIUC” or NJAP.
In response to offending many members of the campus community, Acacia and Alpha Phi at UIUC also teamed up to form a Facebook page responding to the issue and the complaints involved. NJAP and these organizations have been at the center of a heated university debate ever since.
The Daily Illini reported that Muhammad Yousuf, one of the activists in NJAP, was not convinced that the racism in the photos was accidental. “Until I see various substantial proof that it wasn’t, I have no reason to believe they’re telling the truth and they’re not trying to cover it,” he said. “It very well could have been an accident, but I don’t see substantial proof wither way.”
One of NJAP’s issues was with the students wearing keffiyehs. However, Acacia and Alpha Phi corrected them, saying that the students wearing the traditional Arab garb were of Syrian descent, and were celebrating their heritage at the party.
Once again, Yousuf was critical. The student said, “When you see people dressed up in Arab garb next to TSA agents, people don’t know that’s an accident.” However, the statement released by the Greek organizations said that the two individuals wearing keffiyehs simply squeezed into the picture, unaware of the costumes of the girls behind them.
Similarly, one NJAP member Rose Rodriguez told USA Today that the photos of the party were “concrete examples of how organized events take place on this campus that continue to appropriate cultures, especially when it’s groups with individuals who are predominantly white who are choosing to wear offensive stereotypical costumes of cultures that are…historically marginalized.”
The NJAP apparently thought that the Greek life apology was inadequate—calling for the university to instill much stricter punishments. These included a three-year suspension of Acacia and Alpha Phi, minority general education requirements, and mandatory diversity training for Greek life there. It’s now up to the university to decide whether or not the situation really was “just a party.”