CSUN Official May Suspend Fraternity on Racism Issue : Education: Zeta Beta Tau chapter is accused of distributing party invitations that were demeaning to Latinos.

Responding to protests by Latino students, a top Cal State Northridge administrator said Wednesday he will probably suspend a fraternity that distributed party invitations he said were racist.

Ronald Kopita, CSUN’s vice president for student affairs, told a meeting of Latino students he will probably revoke for an indefinite period the charter of CSUN’s 61-member chapter of Zeta Beta Tau, one of 15 Greek-letter organizations at the 29,000-student school.

Student members of the Latino activist organization MEChA held a news conference earlier in the day to condemn the fraternity, leading to a brief scuffle with fraternity members. MEChA was angered by flyers the fraternity distributed to invite students to a Mexican theme party that campus officials said was held in part to express support for a UCLA fraternity, Theta Xi.

The Theta Xi fraternity was suspended indefinitely by UCLA officials earlier this year because it distributed songbooks with lyrics offensive to some women and ethnic minorities.

The CSUN fraternity’s fliers described the Oct. 10 party as in honor of, among others, “Lupe.”

Campus officials and student protesters said that referred to an obscene Theta Xi song included in the songbook. Fraternity officers said they did not know if that was what the invitation’s author meant by the reference.

The vulgar 16-line song concludes with the words “Mexican whore.”

The invitation also was addressed to “ chicas “ and “ hombres .”

Latino students said they were angry that university officials knew about the incident but only sent the CSUN fraternity a letter of protest, taking no stronger action until MEChA staged its demonstration.

At MEChA’s urging, the Student Senate voted Tuesday to recommend that CSUN cut all ties with Zeta Beta Tau.

Kopita, who has the final say on the fraternity’s status, said the school had initiated action against Zeta Beta Tau earlier this month by sending the letter of censure. A campus fraternity-sorority panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on the issue Nov. 10. But rather than await the panel’s recommendation, he said, he planned to make a decision today.

“I find this unacceptable, not only to this campus but to the whole community,” Kopita told more than 50 MEChA members at a late-afternoon meeting.

Kopita, recently hired by CSUN from the University of Minnesota, said he was especially troubled because Zeta Beta Tau was originally formed by Jewish students who were barred from membership in established fraternities. Its members are still mostly Jewish.

“I’m embarrassed and ashamed that a fraternity of this origin would put itself in this position,” Kopita said. “I find it particularly insulting, as I am Jewish.”

Jose Luis Vela, president of the CSUN chapter of MEChA--which stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan--said the flyer and party are evidence of a larger problem of racism on the Northridge campus. He said he has asked campus officials to require all students to take courses on Latin-American and other cultures.

“Why are we being viewed as subhuman?” Vela, 22, a senior majoring in biology and Chicano studies, asked during a noon news conference that ended in a brief scuffle between Latinos and members of Zeta Beta Tau. Members of the two groups shouted and pushed each other, but no punches were thrown and no one was injured.

Zeta Beta Tau officers said in an interview that the party flyers were the work of a single member who acted without the knowledge of anyone else in the group.

“We realize what happened was wrong,” said ZBT President David Wagner. “But we have 61 brothers and the flyer doesn’t represent the fraternity as a whole.”

Wagner said the theme of the party was changed after Thomas E. Piernik, director of campus activities, protested. Wagner added that the fraternity was prepared to suffer some type of penalty, but said that being booted off the Northridge campus was too harsh.

If the chapter’s charter is revoked, it would have no rights or standing on the campus, although members could continue to live together in the private home they rent.

ZBT Vice President Harris Birken denied that the party had anything to do with UCLA’s Theta Xi fraternity.

But Piernik said Birken earlier this month had argued with him over the fraternity’s right to be in “solidarity with Theta Xi at UCLA.” He said Harris and other fraternity representatives apparently did not understand why students would take offense at the flyers.

“Their attitude was very poor recognizing there was even a problem,” said Piernik of a meeting he held with the fraternity’s representatives on Oct. 9.

Piernik said growing concern among campus officials over this and past incidents involving fraternities may prompt a larger review of whether Greek-letter organizations should continue to exist at CSUN or be placed under stricter control.