Blacks Get Apology for UCI Greek Skits

Members of two fraternities and a sorority at UC Irvine have apologized for performing musical skits in blackface during a Greek Week celebration last month.

Representatives of the two fraternities, Kappa Sigma and Phi Delta Theta, and the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority met Thursday with members of the Black Student Union at UC Irvine to discuss the matter.

“They were pleading ignorance, and that was an unacceptable excuse,” said Black Student Union member Laquetta Bush, 21.

Joe Schuck, 22, president of Phi Delta Theta, confirmed that an apology was offered at the meeting. He said he was surprised by the emotional reaction of the black students but could understand their feelings.

“I personally didn’t feel the blacks were overreacting,” Schuck said. “They were pretty mad, but what they said was pretty understandable.”

Jack W. Peltason, chancellor at UCI, which has 347 blacks among its 14,064 students, said he was aware of the meeting and the apology.

He said he believes that the people involved in the controversial activities “did it out of insensitivity rather than malice.” Peltason said he was notified by the Greek President Council after the meeting that special efforts will be made to improve communication among all students. A meeting between leaders of the Black Student Union and UCI administrator Ellen Thomas has been scheduled for Tuesday.

Bush said she called the meeting Thursday because some black students at last month’s celebration were offended by the performances. Members of the fraternities and the sorority painted their faces black and lip-synched songs by the Jackson Five and Gladys Knight and the Pips as part of an event held each semester to recruit more members.

Bush said she told members of the organizations at the meeting, “We’re not trying to get you to love us culturally, just to respect and be sensitive to our differences. There comes a time when you have to start educating yourself.”

Keith Tilque, 21, a member of the Black Student Union who attended the meeting, said, “I don’t believe their intention was to incite harm on people or to cause anger to build up in the black community. However, those actions did cause that to happen. We just basically felt it was wrong, that it was in bad taste.”

Tilque said it was not the first time in his four years at UC Irvine that something has happened that blacks found offensive.

A student announcer at the campus radio station, KUCI, was fired three years ago for making racially insensitive remarks during a broadcast.