Syracuse Frat Goes All-In on Racism

[Viper 12109]

This is a real wtf story. How did anyone involved here think it was ok?

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/04/19/syracuse-suspends-engineering-fraternity-for-racist-anti-semitic-homophobic-video/

Quote

Syracuse suspends engineering fraternity for ‘racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic’ video

 

 

By Samantha Schmidt April 19 at 5:42 AM 

A frame of the captured at the Theta Tau fraternity and posted by the Daily Orange on April 18. (YouTube)

“Do you know what you signed up for today?” a fraternity member says in the video as he stands in front of a young man kneeling on the floor.

The young man on his knees then proceeds to make sexually explicit gestures as laughter erupts around him. Asked to recite “the oath,” he says: “f‑‑‑ black people” and uses a racial slur to describe a person of Hispanic background.

“I solemnly swear,” he says, repeating after the standing fraternity member, “to always have hatred in my heart for …” He then says several racial slurs to describe African Americans, Hispanics and Jews.

The six-minute video was originally posted on a secret Facebook group associated with Theta Tau, an engineering fraternity at Syracuse University, according to the Daily Orange, the student newspaper, which made the video public on Wednesday.

Earlier that day, the Syracuse chapter of Theta Tau was suspended after university officials learned of “extremely troubling and disturbing conduct” at the fraternity, Kent Syverud, chancellor and president of Syracuse University, said in an email to students.

Multiple videos captured at the fraternity “include words and behaviors that are extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities,” Syverud said. “I am appalled and shaken by this and deeply concerned for all members of our community.”

In one of the videos, a fraternity member yells at other members to “get in the f‑‑‑in’ showers,” a reference to Nazis’ gas chambers. In other recordings, according to the Daily Orange, students can be heard mocking women, gay people and people with disabilities. All the while, several other students watch and laugh.

The university’s Department of Public Safety has launched an investigation to identify the people involved, “and to take additional legal and disciplinary action,” Syverud said.

“What happened at Theta Tau serves as a reminder that violations of codes of honor, behavior and values will be met with swift and appropriate consequences,” he said.

Before the Daily Orange published some of the videos Wednesday, students across campus demanded the release of the recordings. Protesters gathered outside Syverud’s house, across the street from Theta Tau, and hundreds of students packed into a public forum at a three-hour-long forum at a campus chapel, according to the Daily Orange.

Many students expressed that the offensive video was not an isolated incident, but rather part of a larger cultural problem at the university.

“Theta Tau video is the tipping point in a cultural epidemic at SU,” an editorial in the Daily Orange read.

 

 

While Syverud attended a related university meeting earlier that day, he was not present at the Wednesday evening’s forum attended by hundreds of students. The Daily Orange editorial criticized the chancellor’s absence.

“As the leader of the university, it’s time for Syverud to address a campus that is reflecting on a deeper, pervasive cultural issue that reached a tipping point after The Daily Orange released the video.”

“The video isn’t surprising — it’s a manifestation of microaggressions, rumors, whispers and outright acts of hatred marginalized students encounter in their time at SU,” the Daily Orange editorial also said. “The only difference between this display of prejudice and so many others that go unnoticed at the university is that someone recorded it, and it got out.”

According to its national website, Theta Tau is the “oldest, largest, and foremost Fraternity for Engineers.” It promotes an “inviting, safe, and social environment” and aims to “develop and nurture engineers with strong communication, problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership skills that we demonstrate in our profession, our community, and in our lives.”

The chapter is the fourth fraternity to be suspended from Syracuse University this academic year, according to the Daily Orange. Two others have been suspended in recent weeks and months for conduct violations including hazing. A third was suspended for threatening the safety of a student participating in the new member process, according to the Daily Orange.

 

[Hate 20108]

That's all kind of fucked up.

[Parliament 14260]

Definitely not a good look for those guys.

[bernorange 8361]

I just keep thinking about that scene in Night at the Museum where Teddy Roosevelt chastises the monkey slapping Ben Stiller:  "Who's more evolved?"  It seems that college is not a bulwark against our Idiocracy.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

How do they end up with an all white uber racist engineering fraternity?  That seems like a really niche group that would probably have problems staying in academic good standing.

[Hank Scorpio 17729]

I didn't know Crispy was in a fraternity. Good for him. 

[South Austin 52505]

Seems like a good time for a toga party.

[SDG 3319]

Didn’t something like this happen at an OU frat a year or two ago?  

[Sbbruin 21853]

Maybe I'm in a socialist cocoon here in CA, but I can't believe this type of thing goes on at a major university.  It seems like the first time this would have happened someone would have blown the whistle.  There is closet racism, which is everywhere, and then there is extremely overt racism like this, that I thought was confined to backwater outposts in the south.

[Larry T. Spider 1746]

That part of the country has a massive racism issue that skates by because its not Mississippi or Alabama. Same for parts of Penn and Ohio.  

[SmartAsset 5]

2 hours ago, Viper said:

This is a real wtf story. How did anyone involved here think it was ok?

They're 20?

[burntorangebongos 10710]

Massively fucked up. Id be pissed if i were a student there and burn their house to the ground, doxx all of them in the frat and call for the university to expel them.

Edited April 19, 2018 by burntorangebongos

[F250 28775]

7 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

That part of the country has a massive racism issue that skates by because its not Mississippi or Alabama. Same for parts of Penn and Ohio.  

I worked with a Syracuse grad that would occasionally release his inner thoughts which surprised me because he was from New York. It turns out that up state NY is culturally similar to rural east Texas.

[Royalfan5 2354]

I just never get why people tape themselves doing this shit. 18 to 22 year olds, usually don't think before they speak, and also think that everyone is in on the joke with them. If it's not recorded it makes it hard to spread, and usually folks can get somewhat smarter going forward.  But people who end up seeing recordings of stuff are never in on the joke, and you won't get the benefit of the doubt. All this probably stems from them not getting told they're a dipshit often enough.

[Zepol87 9186]

19 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

That part of the country has a massive racism issue that skates by because its not Mississippi or Alabama. Same for parts of Penn and Ohio.  

Yea I was shocked as hell to see that a few years ago. I really thought it was a dumb southern thing to be this way but holy shit

[MissingInAction 25076]

Canadians are racist AF.

[Celery Man 20950]

Think about all the good they do for the community though.

[TwiceHorn 31471]

56 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

That part of the country has a massive racism issue that skates by because its not Mississippi or Alabama. Same for parts of Penn and Ohio.  

Yup.  People fail to appreciate how rural and sort of "socially" isolated upstate New York is, especially compared to NYC.  That part of the state looks like a Fisher-Price farm.  That said, though, Syracuse draws from all over the Northeast so it is a little bit surprising.

 

I wonder, though, to what extent this racial hostility is provoked by "curve busting" Asians and foreign students in the engineering programs.  Even 30 years ago at UT, there really wasn't much hostility toward them other than "fun" poked at their "cultural" predilections (Asians with their stinky food in the microwaves in the Taylor lounge, Middle Easterner's propensity to shower in cologne).

[South Austin 52505]

1 hour ago, SmartAsset said:

They're 20 racist?

Fixed.

[Saint Austin 745]

From an engineering frat??

[Netzer 157]

Recording a vertical video off of a 16:9 computer screen should entail automatic exmatriculation.

 

[Brothahorn 10087]

I worked with a Syracuse grad that would occasionally release his inner thoughts which surprised me because he was from New York. It turns out that up state NY is culturally similar to rural east Texas.

I learned years ago, there is New York City and then Far North Alabama.

[burntorangebongos 10710]

So it looks like it was a skit about a rival frat and they were performing a skit of what that frat's sacred ritual might be. Did anyone see that? Hard to follow and not sure I understood them very well.

[TwiceHorn 31471]

Super weird.  It appears to be more an "academic" type fraternity than a "social" type fraternity.  But more like what we may be familiar with in Delta Sigma Pi (business/social frat) than Tau Beta Pi (the Phi Beta Kappa for engineers).  Other than Delta Sigma Pi, which, afaik had no house, but hazed and partied, there doesn't seem to be an analog at Texas.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

Delta sigma Pi at UT got their charter pulled because they told the National office to fuck off when they tried to force them to admit women.

[Okie State 3821]

So it looks like it was a skit about a rival frat and they were performing a skit of what that frat's sacred ritual might be. Did anyone see that? Hard to follow and not sure I understood them very well.

I watched it and had no idea what was going on. Must have been some kind of inside jokes because none of it was even remotely funny.

[Beau Vine 54230]

19 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Super weird.  It appears to be more an "academic" type fraternity than a "social" type fraternity. 

I'll admit that I have been wondering how social an engineering fraternity could be.  

 

 

[TwiceHorn 31471]

7 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I'll admit that I have been wondering how social an engineering fraternity could be.  

 

 

To that end, the video seems to show some kind of scripted, satirical and very poor performance of a skit.  It seems plausible that the vile things in it were parodic in nature.  Really hard to tell because it's awkward as fuck.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

So it looks like it was a skit about a rival frat and they were performing a skit of what that frat's sacred ritual might be. Did anyone see that? Hard to follow and not sure I understood them very well.

I thought it was parody. Either way incredibly stupid. 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I'll admit that I have been wondering how social an engineering fraternity could be.  

 

 

They’re nerds, just like my undergrad business fraternity were nerds, had zero bearing on my resume, and I stopped associating with them after a week. 

[Larry T. Spider 1746]

I’m pretty sure it was parody. Still, let them have their consequences for:

1. Extreme lack of judgment

2. Putting the extreme lack of judgement on film

[G650 14256]

On 4/19/2018 at 1:14 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Yup.  People fail to appreciate how rural and sort of "socially" isolated upstate New York is, especially compared to NYC.  That part of the state looks like a Fisher-Price farm.  That said, though, Syracuse draws from all over the Northeast so it is a little bit surprising.

 

Yeah, except the whole Northeast is pretty racist, so not really surprising at all.

[GreenspointTexas 9602]

Really? Yall are shocked that rich, spoiled, conservative white kids who pay to have friends say things like this?

 

 

lol

[midtown 3345]

Let's not pretend this doesn't happen on the UT campus or any other campus or west Austin for that matter.  

Edited April 23, 2018 by midtown

[hayden_horn 11362]

14 minutes ago, G650 said:

Yeah, except the whole Northeast is pretty racist, so not really surprising at all.

the most racist stuff i've ever heard was from an uncle in the ohio river valley. he was, of course, chief of a small town police force.

[Beau Vine 54230]

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 9:04 PM, TwiceHorn said:

To that end, the video seems to show some kind of scripted, satirical and very poor performance of a skit.  It seems plausible that the vile things in it were parodic in nature.  

It almost seemed like that excuse could work, and then the second video came out:

 

 

[G650 14256]

7 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

the most racist stuff i've ever heard was from an uncle in the ohio river valley. he was, of course, chief of a small town police force.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Here's the kids getting called in to the dean's office:

 

[TornACL 7698]

They should punish everyone involved in that video, and if there's anyone in that frat who didn't participate in that video but who was aware of it and silent on the matter, they should punish those kids worse.

At some point these things happen when shithead pussies are allowed to run amok and lead lemmings without getting their motherfucking ass kicked by people who know better.

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by TornACL

[Viper 12109]

FIRE  is getting involved now. They have a letter they sent to Syracuse. They do good work so I'm inclined to trust them on this. Apparently this was a scripted roast/satire and the student in the video was Jewish.

 

I can't seem to copy the letter, so you can go to the site to read it

https://www.thefire.org/fire-letter-to-syracuse-university-may-4-2018/

 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Good luck with that.

[Reagan1k 3024]

They may make a compelling argument but trying to get that toothpaste back in the tube may prove troublesome.

The lack of judgment in this case may well be in the execution of the event, the recording of it, and not the content or intent, but one can argue that it was still poor judgment none the less.

Hopefully lives won't be ruined by this but consequences are a fickle beast.

[Pato del Muerto 52498]

On 4/19/2018 at 10:09 AM, Sbbruin said:

Maybe I'm in a socialist cocoon here in CA, but I can't believe this type of thing goes on at a major university.  It seems like the first time this would have happened someone would have blown the whistle.  There is closet racism, which is everywhere, and then there is extremely overt racism like this, that I thought was confined to backwater outposts in the south.

It’s never, ever been confined to the backwaters of the south. But them that win the wars write the history books. 

[TwiceHorn 31471]

On 4/23/2018 at 2:40 PM, Beau Vine said:

It almost seemed like that excuse could work, and then the second video came out:

 

 

Can't really tell what's going on there, but doesn't seem to undermine the whole scripted, poorly acted-out, satire or parody notion.  Very bad taste, but it's so awkward and weird that it doesn't seem to actually convey racist or able-ist beliefs.

Edited June 8, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[Sawbonz 27562]

On 4/19/2018 at 8:55 PM, Beau Vine said:

I'll admit that I have been wondering how social an engineering fraternity could be.  

 

 

It’s sort of social. Demented and sad but social 

[Mojo Hand 4580]

On 4/19/2018 at 12:09 PM, Sbbruin said:

Maybe I'm in a socialist cocoon here in CA, but I can't believe this type of thing goes on at a major university.  It seems like the first time this would have happened someone would have blown the whistle.  There is closet racism, which is everywhere, and then there is extremely overt racism like this, that I thought was confined to backwater outposts in the south.

 

[Sbbruin 21853]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: thank god they didn't have cell phone cameras back in my day.  

[Incredulity 11671]

Parody or not this is a totally predictable reaction by youth to racially epitaphs being the tabooist of taboos in society today.