CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA CLARA : Slur Costs Fraternity Position on Campus

In the harshest action it has ever taken against a fraternity, Santa Clara University withdrew recognition of the 100-member California Lambda chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon for at least four years for slurring minority groups in a newsletter circulated on campus. James Briggs, vice president of student services, described the newsletter as “repugnant, obscene and wantonly degrading to women, racial minorities and homosexuals.” The president of the Jesuit school, Paul Locatelli, said the incident has raised serious questions about the appropriateness of having five fraternities and three sororities on campus. Members of Greek organizations make up about 20% of the university’s 3,800 undergraduates.