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Subscribe to RSSControversy follows the release of a Penn State sorority photo showing students dressed in ponchos and sombreros posing with offensive signs. WJAC's Steph Davis reports.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State president Rodney Erickson admonished students who wore costumes and held offensive signs in photographs circulated on the Internet, but said in a campus-wide letter Thursday that the school won't pursue disciplinary action.
The letter didn't specifically reference the photos or name the Chi Omega sorority, which has apologized. But Erickson said it became clear in recent days that some students "celebrated Halloween in costumes that offended others" and acted contrary to university values.
One sign in the photo of sorority sisters says "will mow lawn for weed + beer." Two women holding signs are wearing fake mustaches. Others in the photo wore sombreros.
Erickson said the "disturbing behaviors" were protected by free speech rights. He said he was disappointed and dismayed, but hoped that lessons would be learned from the case.
"The simplest of those lessons is that costumes that include blackface, or that parody or imitate a person or groups of people, are always offensive to someone," Erickson said. "They convey either a lack of awareness about the human condition and human sensitivities or, worse yet, disdain for the thoughts, feelings, histories and experiences of others.
"It is that belief that calls upon all Penn Staters, wherever they may be, to reflect for a moment on the value of diversity in the university and the broader communities we inhabit," he added.
Also Thursday, a posting on the Chi Omega national chapter's website said the Penn State sorority has been placed on probation. The posting cited members "portraying inappropriate and untrue ethnic stereotypes at a social function."
Chi Omega's Memphis-based national office said it was working closely with Penn State and the school's Panhellenic Council to "implement corrective educational directives for the chapter."
"I am disappointed in the choices made by our Nu Gamma Chapter members and we regret any pain caused," Chi Omega national president Letitia Fulkerson said in the statement. "Chi Omega does not condone behavior that violates our organization's policy on human dignity."
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PC Police to the rescue.
At this point I think it would be easier to make a list of the things that are safe to say than a list of things that are offensive.
I think it is politically incorrect to draw attention to a sorority girl with a mustache, isn't it?
Even a PB&J sandwich is racist these days.
http://www.examiner.com/article/portland-school-sees-racism-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwiches
I would totally mow their lawns.
Or trim their bushes.
For free.
And yet another instance of the ongoing pussification of America.
I don't care who you are there..that there is funny.
"I like to win"
Let's make 2013 the year we exterminate this self-rightous, smug PC attitude. Ridicule works in public, try it.
I think it's to be more abhorred to hide the fact that you suspected or knew of children being molested on your campus, but instead tried to cover it up, but maybe that's me.
Can't kids in college these days get a little more realistic?
Most not all of that saying they used was from 1960's!
Mow the lawn wasn't used back in the 60's.
Amen
You just don't know how much the US is hated around the world because of this sort of thing.
Maybe Mexicans should just get even with a pussy riot.
Yep, "work for beer or weed" and forget about that tremendous student loan debt since Mr. Obama has on his plate to "forgive" all student loans at a cost of about $ 1,400,000,000,000.
A week each of working the cafeteria, cutting the grass on the quads and cleaning the lavatories on campus might teach them to respect others.
Isn't that Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann in the front row?
They don't need to learn to respect anyone. They were having fun at the expense of Mexicans..and there is nothing at all wrong with picking on Mexicans.
Yes, i can totally understand dou. Many of the commentators in this string don't get it. They can't beyond their sphere of the world.
Mods u guys are pretty slow. This should be collapsed or deleted.
The concept of sarcasm is beyond your grasp.
Way to go Chi Omega! Nice to see a sense of humor still exists somewhere.
Destroy Babylon.
really? calm your pants! its not that serious. im part mexican, but i couldnt care less about sombreros and mustaches. im mexican and i make jokes about mexicans all the time. people need to cool out with all the politically correct nonsense. its has gone way too overboard noawadays.
Have to agree, I'm Mexican and i don't find it all that offensive, people need to grow some thicker skin, there is a difference between discrimination via racism, and racial jokes.
Plus the sign on the right holds true for many people Mexican or not.
agree with MireV03, I never thought weed & beer was a mexican thing, now FRATERNITY BROS....-yes definately
Hell yah 8) especially here in SoCal I grew up around Mexicans all my life 8) Hell I married one and she loved this pic thought it was funny as @!$%#...
The sign on the right Mire is so true 420 forever 8p
Mary Jane is something that always brings together the races and guess what we all get along 8) the only douchebags left out are the loser Nazi's we have here in Orange County.
Just curious, where do you draw the line? A lot of Asians became offended when someone wrote "ching chong" or something like that on someone's restaurant order receipt some time ago, and I know several who got upset when someone posted a picture of some white people pulling on their eyes so they would slant and appear Asian in the picture. It's hard to find a happy medium that can be considered funny yet not offensive and upsetting. Just saying...
Sooo... in the backward-logic right-wing way of thinking, making a racist statement like these college students did is OK, but speaking out against it is wrong (or, in nRWNJ-speak, "PC")?. Nobody punished these students, or jailed them, or fined them. People just called their racist display for the racist spectacle it is. THAT is what the First Amendment is about. Don't like it- immigrate to Iran.
I would disagree with most of ya. Mexican or not PC or not, there are those and many i may add who would not like to be the laughing stock of a racial or ethnic joke at the expense of others. That's plain disrespectful.
Drawing the line can understandably be a thin one but in the 2 instances you stated, do u not see the disrespect. Do u not have enough experience in life to know or have been around people who have done that to others and have made them cry. I've witness this as kid growing up with my own friends poking fun of others like that. I didn't condone it then and certainly don't now. I truly believe it's a matter of life experiences. The majority whites do not hang around or live around minorities whereas minorities see and experience the white majority in every facet of their life. I think the lack of exposure on a regular basis is the problem. I'm guessing the sorority doesn't have any mexicans or hispanics in their school chapter.
Sororities and fraternities are means by which the economic elite insulate their progeny from "undesirables" during the primary mating season of their lives. Of course, they are racist, classist and otherwise elitist in this pursuit. The so-called "Greek" institutions are inherently racist.
What about LambaLambaLamba and Omega Moo? ;)
It applies to all aergerm
Somewhere in Mexico, a Hispanic sorority dressed up like white upper-middle class supermodels holding signs that said "will work for money". Ironically, their campus spokespeople praised them for their ingenuity and creativity.
I don't think "work" is the word they would be using.
@mklnd
LOL..
Its hilarious when I read comments when people complain about "all of this PC crap" "tired of being PC". Not calling someone a derogatory name is not "PC", it's "C" as in correct. Refraining from calling someone of any ethnicity/race the N word, S word, C word, SN word, M word, W word is correct! Nothing political about it.
No one called anyone anything. If they were holding signs saying "beaner" or "spicks," then I would agree with you. They're simply wearing silly costumes and having a little fun.
True, but designating a word as derogatory when it is merely descriptive is PC.
Members of the PC crowd preach respect but have none to offer. "MYOB" and "speak when spoken to" - two of the best forgotten principles ever.
Oh come on people!!!! it's not like they rolled around in dirt and grease and were holding up "will mow your lawn to pay for my brand new SUV instead of feeding my 12 children and the other 16 family members living in my house, send the rest of the money back to the other 26 family members in mexico, then get as many free food, education, and health benefits (while we keep pumping out more children) from your government as I can" sign!!!!! Now that could be viewed by some as racist. heh
So showing an amateur video of people with painted black buffon faces eating watermelon and fried chicken in tattered clothing would be ok in your book too. Just having a little fun.
But it would have probably gone beyond scolding by Penn State administration if the girls had been wearing shower-room towels over their clothes during this prank.
If they did that, they'd just be having a little fun according to some of the thinking on this thread.
Fear of offending someone is killing humor. As Groucho Marx put it: "Nowadays you can't even poke fun a sharks without someone getting upset." He also sang "Lydia, The Tattooed Lady", which I'm sure must have hurt someone's feelings somewhere!??? College Kids are College Kids, always up to hijinks, sometimes guilty of bad taste. So what!
HAHA I love this!
Oh Please.
When Greek exchange party can't be non-PC, the libs can kiss my WASP backside.
Thank dog I went to college before the PC police outlawed fun.
Oh, those funny, privileged sorority girls! Hopefully there's some low-paying, heavy labor in their not to distant future that will remind them of the good old days...
Hey...I did that back in the 70's
"Lighten up Francis!" And Indegena, fyi, the worst frats on campus about hazing, making fun of folks, etc. are the black ones......but then, since you probably did not go to school, you wouldn't know!
It's all fun and games...until a seed pops and puts someones eye out
I have an understanding with my anglo meighbors; I don't write on their walls and they don't molest my kids. we get along fine.
...the girls should have told the school president to go f*ck himself....American colleges are full of limp dicked pc administrators and professors....they are as pathetic and phony as they come....welcome to the new America, serfs.....
All american colleges are left leaning liberal. That is where all the left wingnuts come from.
scottyusa
And the Reich-Wingerz come outa Swamps????
No one has shoved a gun down their throat and told them to go to such a liberal school.
Meet the Penn State 2012 batch of CEO sugar babies. Chi Omega, the other white meat...
Now that was funny.
What else is new? PSU has always been a bastion of stupidity (and this from a PA resident who acknowledges the fact that PSU is nothing more than a Cow-Town haven for those who can't get into anywhere else).
Three years ago I had an encounter with a Penn State Chi Omega sorority girl at a New Mexico Forest Service office. At age 19 she proudly proclaimed she did whatever she wanted, when she wanted, how she wanted and she came to party, drink, and meet boys. As a Professional Latino woman in her 50’s (whose family has been in this legally country since 1641) this darling who kept telling me how rich her father was and non-stop about how Chi Omega sisters were so elite, then told me that I could cook her meals, wash her clothes, and scrub her toilet. She was serious. She grew up believing all older Latino women were maids and cooks. Must be a "Bias and Stereotyping 101 Class”, that they are required to take at Penn State. Oh, the best part was her calling me a "snitch" and a "backstabber" against her Chi Omega values when I reported her comments to supervisors.
Nice to hear comments from both ends of the spectrum, as a "coyote" or half of each, I see the humor given the November election results, especially the legalization of cannabis and hemp votes in Washington State and Colorful Colorado! I also wonder about the dark side of elitism and class and race warfare, and the ammunition used by the two percent to use religion, country, and "safety" to divert the attentions of the masses. The irony of a "Chi Omega national president" Letitia Fulkerson taking time from her most important presidential business to say "I am disappointed in the choices made by our Nu Gamma Chapter members" and "Chi Omega does not condone behavior that violates our organization's policy on human dignity" for what is essentially a party stunt photo....well... tough titty, Miss Letitia, its called Free Speech! Penn State president Rodney Erickson said it best! His comment of "They convey either a lack of awareness about the human condition and human sensitivities or, worse yet, disdain for the thoughts, feelings, histories and experiences of others". might lead to some debate! Didn't the Board of Directors of the Chi Omega national organization or president miss letitia get the Ganja Halloween Party memo from the Nu Gamma Chaper, Penn State Chi Omega sorority members? Well, this is an outrage! How dare they put us on Double Secret Probation for showing that "Up in Smoke" movie again and gettin' our elitist hot asses all riled up for some hot latin lovin'! Maybe the National Organization DID get the memo from the DEA about needing "Billions more - for the Drug War" by promoting it's new movie "Zombie Reefer Madness 2013" and that in this movie, all our hot young sorority girls are smokin' the "Marihuiana" and becoming sex zombies! Sex zombies only want sweet, sweet "Big Love, Havana Style" from people of Color - preferably named Raul or Jesus or Mo, as those names scream out the best! Well, personally, I believe right now that the only way to get over this latest assault on the hemp-based origin of America and its First Amendment, and the will of the people is..."Road Trip"! Wolf Creek, Here I Come!
KJNG - Wow man. I've had a few beers and that doesn't even make sense to me!
Did I drip too much irony, BS and old movie trivia into the thread? Have another beer and watch Animal House or Up in Smoke or Reefer Madness and remember that it's nearly 4:20 in Wolf Creek, Colorado.
So Light one up Francis, and remember that kids will be kids.
I think we need to lighten up. If you think about it most every joke prank or laugh comes at the expense of another. We laugh either because we see the reflection of ourselves or the humor in the plight of another. Why is it we have come to the point of hypersensitivity? Its a scary thought.
If the school and community feel they must be punished, why not let them mow lawns for charity to make up for the oh so insensitive humor. Its a school and should be associated with learning. Saying I'm sorry isn't learning anything. It just teaches the cruelty is supposed to be soothed by your kind word, its really a way of asking a person to turn the other cheek.
Hey Rodney...stuff it! Go have some tacos and burritos and just get over it. You think anybody cares?
Hahahhahahahahahahahahahah. Kids!