CSUN Officials Suspend Zeta Beta Tau Over Protested Flyer : Education: Some say the ruling, which puts on hold until 1994 all university relations with the fraternity including financial support, is too lenient.

Cal State Northridge officials said Monday that the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity has been suspended until January, 1994, for distributing a party flyer last month that violated campus rules against sexism and racism and touched off campus demonstrations by Latino students.

“Racism and sexism have no place on this university campus,” said Ronald Kopita, CSUN vice president for student affairs, who ordered the suspension after hearing recommendations from student groups that reviewed the incident.

The ruling suspends all CSUN relations with the fraternity, including financial support.

Fraternity members have admitted they had acted improperly by posting invitations to a Mexican-themed party that made reference to a fictional “Lupe,” the main character of an obscene and vulgar drinking song. The song had appeared in a UCLA fraternity’s songbook earlier this year, prompting student protests and the temporary suspensions of two fraternities there.

Jose Luis Vela, chairman of the CSUN chapter of MEChA--a Chicano student group that organized protests against ZBT--said the 14-month suspension is not sufficient punishment.

“Other fraternities will see that the school is lenient against racism and sexism,” Vela said. “They should have been suspended permanently.”

But Scott Krivis, a ZBT alumnus and spokesman for the fraternity, said the suspension is too harsh a penalty, and is considering filing a lawsuit against the school.

“The UCLA fraternity that actually had the song in their songbook was suspended for less than one month,” Krivis said. “We are going to fight this decision.”

Krivis said the 61-member fraternity is at most guilty of “an error in judgment.” The fraternity has sent out a letter of apology, fired its student officers and offered to attend workshops on multiculturalism.

ZBT members have said that a single member was responsible for the flyer, and that he did not even know the lyrics of the “Lupe” song.

But campus officials said fraternity members in an Oct. 9 meeting defended their right to hold the Oct. 10 party, aware that it would be offensive to many students and in violation of campus rules.

ZBT officers should have known the party flyer was wrong because copies of “Lupe” and other offensive fraternity songs had been distributed to CSUN fraternity leaders earlier in the month, school authorities said.

Kopita found the fraternity violated the code of ethics governing campus organizations holding a school charter. The code, to which ZBT representatives agreed, prohibits actions that “promote degrading or demeaning social stereotypes based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability.”

Kopita has also ordered that ZBT members participate in educational workshops before they are reinstated. Following its suspension, ZBT will also be on probation for one year.

“Organizations must be held accountable for the actions of their members,” said Kopita in a written statement.

Kopita said he plans to require leaders of student organizations to attend a workshop each year on dealing with ethnic and other minority groups.