Baylor University students and administrators are condemning a fraternity’s Cinco de Mayo event for being “racially insensitive.”
The Baylor Lariat reports on Saturday, the Kappa Sigma fraternity hosted a “Mexican-themed” “Cinco de Drinko” party. Attendees allegedly wore sombreros and serapes to the event. According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, students reported participants were also dressed up as construction workers and chanted “build the wall,” in reference to President Trump’s promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Baylor administrators were quick to condemn the incident. In a statement on the Baylor website the day after the event, vice president for student life Kevin P. Jackson called the fraternity’s event “racially insensitive” and contrary to the school’s Christian mission of a “caring and diverse campus community.”
In addition to a public condemnation, the university temporarily suspended the fraternity “pending the completion of a formal inquiry.” The Bias Motivated Incident Support Team, a division of student life, is investigating the incident.
While students alleged people at the event wore brown face, university administrators claim they have no direct evidence of that occurring, but they would investigate the matter if evidence arises.
Despite the university’s swift statement, protesters on campus are demanding more.
On Monday, hundreds of students rallied on campus and called for the university to “address racism on campus.” They held signs and yelled, “Dear Baylor, love thy neighbor.”
Members of the Baylor NAACP, Hispanic Student Association, and Latin X Coalition are demanding the university formally apologize to students, create mandatory cultural competency programs for all students and staff members, create a separate, multicultural student government cabinet, hire more faculty from diverse backgrounds, hire bilingual workers for the financial aid and admissions offices.
The president of the Hispanic Student Association, Damian Moncada, said, “A lot of advocates for the event have been saying that they were promoting Mexican heritage and Latino culture, and that is not the case.”
“Whenever you are representing a group of people and just dressing up all the same and you are painting your face a different color, that’s not accurately representing people and I think you’re shaming people for being a different color,” he continued.
Natasha Nkhama, one of the protest attendees who claims to have experienced a racist incident during the fall semester, said, “I’m just tired. I don’t want us to keep walking every time something happens and with as tired as y’all are of hearing about racism, we’re tired of experiencing it.”
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