ETSU fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon will be disciplined by the Office of Greek Life and university administration for hosting an unauthorized, improperly managed Halloween party on Oct. 25.
An incident that occurred at that party has incurred attention from the fraternity’s national chapter, and will result in diversity and sensitivity training for the fraternity, and possibly for the rest of the campus Greeks.
At the party, four to five attendees dressed in blackface. Dean of Students Joe Sherlin called the blackface incident “offensive.”
“That’s completely inconsistent with the values of ETSU, and of the fraternity,” Sherlin said in a phone interview on Nov. 4.
The Office of Greek Life contacted the fraternity’s leadership last week as soon as they heard about the party and the blackface incident.
More than 100 people attended the party, located at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. When more than 100 people attend a fraternity or sorority hosted party, the organizations must take measures to notify the university, and must follow certain guidelines with regards to safety.
The fraternity took some steps to notify Greek Life administrators, Sherlin said, but they did not follow the guidelines regarding security personnel.
Sigma Phi Epsilon President Alex Trickler did not return phone calls from the East Tennessean, and he sent an e-mail on Nov. 5 stating that he had no comments at this time.
On Nov. 4, at 11:20 p.m., ETSU student Matthew Buckingham posted a comment to the East Tennessean’s Web site regarding the story.
“First off all there is no reason anyone should be penalized for this because of the fact that there was not any degrading costumes at our party,” Buckingham wrote. “All of the costumes that were at the party were current celebrities who most of you listen to on a daily basis on your radios in your car as well as on your iPods. Anyone who considers this offensive is just looking for a reason to point fingers and try and get others in trouble. . There is no difference between someone wearing a sombrero representing a person of Hispanic decent or someone dressing as an Indian to represent a Native Americans which you see all of the time at parties.”
An ETSU professor of history and African-American studies offered a different perspective on the incident.
“It shows a lack of sensitivity toward other cultures,” said Elwood Watson. “(This is) an overwhelmingly homogeneous area, population-wise, in its ethnic makeup. . That is a climate that can lead to cultural ignorance and insensitivity.”
The use of blackface peaked between the 1920s and 1940s. It was used by white performers who dressed up and depicted what they saw as the characteristics or attributes of African-Americans, Watson said. These attributes were often highly degrading, depicting blacks as subhuman, less intelligent, childlike and jocular.
The beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement wiped out the majority of the practice – but blackface is still considered highly offensive today, said one ETSU student.
“They don’t realize that the things people of privilege do for fun hurt other people,” said Ash-Lee Henderson. She added, “Giving them so-called ‘diversity training’ is not enough.”
Henderson has served as a Black Affairs Association president, and is now an organizer behind a new campus group, the Progressive Student Alliance. At their next meeting, she said, they will be discussing this issue. For more information contact etsupsa@gmail.com.
Sherlin emphasized that ETSU administrators were not taking this event lightly.
“It’s not a minor incident,” he said. “In no way do we view it as such.”
Individuals have the right to free speech, he said, so no legal action will be taken.
“From the information we have at this point, the fraternity had not followed the guidelines or rules for the event,” Sherlin said.
As for the incident of the students dressed in blackface, an Interfraternity Council hearing will take place within a week. Sherlin said the national chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon will be taking action.
“The national has expressed a strong desire to work with us . to promote greater sensitivity and understanding,” Sherlin said.
Sherlin added that he plans on developing a long-term plan to keep incidents like this one from happening in the future.
Watson and Henderson added in separate interviews that this may be a good opportunity to educate ETSU students on the importance of sensitivity.

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