UCLA Students Wear Blackface to Kanye West-Themed Party

Fraternities at American colleges and universities have become perhaps the most divisive campus institutions. Maybe for good reason: While the Greek system’s misdeeds are bound to cause an uproar once they make it to the national press, some schools afford the houses a curious amount of latitude. Some students at UCLA are claiming that that’s just what happened this Tuesday (Oct. 6), when the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon and the sorority Alpha Phi threw a “Kanye Western”- themed party. The Los Angeles Times cites reports in the UCLA campus paper, the Daily Bruin, that white students showed up to the party in Blackface and other racially insensitive attire, like doo-rags and baggy pants.

The party took place during Black Bruin Welcome Week, a time set aside to make available to students of color resources and connections with upperclassmen. The Afrikan Student Union is meeting on campus today to discuss what it’s calling a “racial incident” and is encouraging those who plan to attend to wear black. Kelsee Thomas, a student who attended the party, says she confronted two members of Sigma Phi, but was laughed at and dismissed when she argued that the fraternity should apologize to the Black student body. Sigma Phi’s national office says that the UCLA chapter has temporarily suspended activities as it investigates the situation internally. The school itself told Los Angeles’ KNBC-TV, “While we do not yet have all the facts, the alleged behavior is inconsistent with good judgment as well as our principles of community.”