GMU INCIDENT ON BLACKFACE THRASHED OUT

Title

Description

Continued coverage of the 1991 Dress A Sig blackface incident, noting the changing demographics at the university and the calls for reprimanding Sigma Chi and the included sororities who took part.

Creator

Peter Baker

Publisher

The Washington Post

Date Created

4/18/1991

Contributor

Jacob Connelly

Research supported by George Mason University Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Initiative

Bibliographic Citation

Baker, Peter. “GMU INCIDENT ON BLACKFACE THRASHED OUT.” The Washington Post, April 18, 1991. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1991/04/18/gmu-incident-on-blackface-thrashed-out/9302e2a9-8777-48d1-8ae0-f1f27408dc35/.

extracted text

GMU INCIDENT ON BLACKFACE THRASHED OUT

By Peter Baker
April 18, 1991

Black and white students at George Mason University confronted each other yesterday in a tense meeting sparked by anger over a fraternity show featuring a white student in blackface.

As university officials tried to mediate the racially charged controversy, a group of black students presented a list of demands, while the mostly white fraternity and sorority members involved in the fund-raising show tried to apologize and explain they never intended any harm. About 150 students gathered for the meeting.

"There were people who were extremely angry and upset. There were people who felt sympathy and guilt," said Scott Vietiello, 21, a white junior who attended the fraternity event and yesterday's two-hour closed meeting. "There was just a whole range of emotions."

"Confrontation is never easy, no matter what the issues are," said Dean Kenneth E. Bumgarner, who attended the meeting. "People are confronting their own values, and it's tough."

The campus discord follows an April 4 fund-raising event sponsored by Sigma Chi fraternity, in which sorority women dressed 18 fraternity members in female clothing and paraded them onstage. One Sigma Chi member appeared in blackface.

The episode has aroused deep passions on the normally sedate commuter campus where 5 percent of the 20,000 students are black. It comes at a time when the school in Fairfax County has become increasingly diverse, with more Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern students, and the university administration has launched a cultural diversity program to head off exactly this kind of situation.

During the meeting and in interviews afterward, fraternity leaders apologized and said they realize now that the blackface incident was wrong and hurtful. They said it wasn't until they heard some of the passionate testimonials from black students yesterday that they fully understood the meaning of what they had done.

"If anything, this meeting served a purpose of letting everyone know how serious it really is," said Archie Kao, a Sigma Chi member and student government president.

But some black students did not accept that, saying that fraternity and sorority leaders still did not comprehend the issue and were simply apologizing to muffle the reaction.

"They're just apologizing because that's what they think we want," said Patrice Parker, 20, a sophomore and member of the Black Student Alliance. "It's not sincere."

A coalition of students upset about the incident presented a list of four demands: an apology from Sigma Xi and sororities involved in the show; the permanent elimination of the annual "Dress a Sig" competition; restriction of on-campus activities for the fraternity and sorority; and further sensitivity education for students involved.

Bumgarner said he will decide by tomorrow what disciplinary action to take against the groups involved in the incident. Sanctions could include anything from mandatory cultural workshops to banishment from campus.

In the meantime, Bumgarner said he intends to sponsor future events to promote racial awareness and sensitivity. "We're encouraging groups that were here today to use this as a beginning, not to see this as an end," he said.

It certainly didn't end after the meeting. Late into the afternoon, Todd Hammer, 21, a junior and member of Sigma Chi, was once again explaining how the incident occurred. "No one thought it was going to be offensive in any way," he was saying. "It was an afterthought."

At that point, DeNise Gooseberry, a black friend who was listening, interjected. "What you just said is the whole problem," she told him. "No one thought; it was an afterthought."

Hammer looked over at her and assured her, "We realize that now."

Item