Silence in St. Clare broken by open forum

By Kurt Wagner

The Saint Clare Room was packed beyond capacity Wednesday night for a school-wide forum to discuss diversity at Santa Clara.

Students lined the walls and floor -- and at times sat two to a chair í-- to try and fit into the forum, which was hosted by the Multicultural Center. University President Michael Engh, S.J., sat on the arm of a chair already occupied by a student participant.

"I was very happy with the turnout," said MCC Director Jose Arreola after the forum. "It was amazing to see so many individuals who had probably never been in the same room together, in the same room together."

The forum materialized in the wake of the "Notorious P-H-I" theme party hosted by the Alpha Phi sorority on Sept. 30, which caused campus-wide discussion last week. In an e-mail, Arreola credited the creation of the forum to an "increased awareness of racial and prejudicial incidents on campus."

Executive members from the MCC, Associated Students and the Santa Clara Community Action Program sat on a panel for the conversation, but students did the majority of the talking from the audience. No Greek members were on the panel due to legal reasons, said President of Associated Students Sean Brachvogel.

MCC called emergency meetings after photos from the "Notorious P-H-I" party emerged on Facebook.

The photos, which portrayed partygoers dressed in bandanas, sports jerseys and a pimp outfit, were found to be offensive by the MCC for depicting a "simplistic and superficial representation" of the African American community, said Arreola.

Alpha Phi President Jessica Canalin felt much of the problem stemmed from a misunderstanding of the theme of the party, which has been labeled by many to be "ghetto/gangster." The actual theme of the party was "rap/hip-hop," she said.

"Nothing about our party had to do with race or had to do with socio-economic status and I think it is not correct how people are associating the two together," said Canalin before the forum. "It was to celebrate rap culture and that's what's being overlooked."

Wednesday's discussion consisted of three parts that included questions about the theme party, whether or not Santa Clara is an inclusive community and a brainstorming session for ways to broaden student attitudes towards diversity.

Students were quick to point out that the theme party was offensive to some, regardless of intentions by the participants.

"The problem is people were hurt," said sophomore Elle Sypek. "Whether there was intent to do so or it accidentally happened, people were hurt and that's something we need to keep in mind."

Frank Espinoza, a transfer student from Evergreen Valley College, felt that the party was "appalling" and went against many of the reasons he decided to attend Santa Clara.

"There should be no blemishes at Santa Clara University with the mission statement they give us at orientation," he said.

Sophomore Armand Domalewski, a self-proclaimed "token white guy" at MCC meetings, responded to another student's remark about how minority students on campus should not be surprised by these actions.

"No one should have to expect things like this at Santa Clara," he said. "No one should feel unwelcomed at this school. No one should feel like they don't belong here. And no one should have to cry because of comments made at this school or actions addressed by people here."

During the portion of discussion geared towards inclusivity at Santa Clara, many students felt that there was a divide, not just between students of different ethnicities, but also between Greeks and non-Greeks on campus.

"I think one of the things we focus on so much when we have issues like this is what makes us different," said junior William Nye, a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity. "I think one of the things that gets lost in that is we've got to find common ground in what makes us the same."

Canalin felt that her participation in a sorority leads others to judge her without first getting to know her.

"I will continue to not stereotype you, but please stop stereotyping me and my girls," she said. "We will have an effort put out there, but it needs to be reciprocated also by everyone else."

Aldo Billingslea, a professor in the theatre and dance department, called out Caucasian Greek students to use their power within the Greek system responsibly.

"Fact. The majority of people who are Greek on this campus are white," he said. "And in our society that gives them power. Doing the responsible thing with that power would be great. And I put that more on you than on the minorities in this room."

Brachvogel felt that the collaboration between the three student organizations in hosting the forum led to more diverse student participation than if the event had been hosted by only one of the groups.

Wednesday's forum is just one portion of the MCC's action plan that was unveiled last week in hopes to educate the community on issues of diversity and a need for more cultural sensitivity on campus.

The action plan includes releasing a newsletter expressing the experiences of students of color at Santa Clara, asking Engh to write a letter to students and parents, asking AS to write a symbolic letter condemning the party and posting a petition in Benson for students to sign if they agree not to attend racial or derogatory theme parties.

The open forum was part of the action plan.

The MCC has assigned committees consisting of both students and faculty to each individual step of the action plan, which has received overwhelming support campus-wide from faculty, administration and students, said Arreola.

Although the writing of an actual letter has not yet been discussed between AS and the MCC, Brachvogel feels that the collaboration between the two organizations has been both beneficial and constructive.

"I'm sure there will definitely be more follow-up on the AS side to this," said Brachvogel. "The forum is not the last of our steps of action."

One member of AS was found to have been present at the party, but both Arreola and Brachvogel insisted that despite rumors circulating around campus, no action has been made to remove that individual from their position on AS.

Canalin feels that the incident has helped to bring the Greek system together and does not feel Alpha Phi should apologize for the event, which she said was never intended to offend anyone.

"I think on behalf of Alpha Phi, an apology is an admittance to wrong," she said before the forum. "We don't think we did anything wrong. We still stand behind our theme and our party."

Despite a great turnout for the evening, this is just the beginning of things that need to be done for change, said Arreola.

"Now we know we've got a lot of work to do," he said. "We all do."

Contact Kurt Wagner at editor@thesantaclara.com or (408) 554-4849.