Party Invitations Called Racist; College Severs Ties to Fraternity

Cal State Northridge severed all campus ties Thursday with a fraternity chapter which distributed party invitations that school officials and Latino students called racist.

But Vice President Ronald Kopita left open the possibility that the CSUN chapter of Zeta Beta Tau could be reinstated after an investigation and report by a student government committee and the school’s Interfraternity Council.

“This is not an issue of guilt or innocence, because ZBT admits wrongdoing,” said Kopita.”My action is to respond to an admission of guilt and to impress on the campus community that such behavior will not be tolerated.”

The suspension followed a day of protests Wednesday by Latino students angered by invitations for a Mexican-theme party held by the fraternity.

The invitations referred to a fictitious “Lupe,” who campus officials said is a character described as a “Mexican whore” in a vulgar and obscene song, the lyrics to which were included in songbooks distributed by a UCLA fraternity, Theta Xi.

UCLA officials earlier this year suspended Theta Xi on the grounds that the songbook was offensive to women and ethnic minorities.

Zeta Beta Tau officers had refused a request by school officials to cancel the party, arguing they had a right to “be in solidarity with Theta Xi at UCLA,” according to campus records of an Oct. 9 meeting between fraternity officers and Thomas Piernik, director of campus activities.

But ZBT officers in interviews on Wednesday denied the party had anything to do with Theta Xi, blaming the incident on a single member they said was responsible for the party flyers. However, they said they were willing to apologize and accept punishment.