A fraternity brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Yale is said to have allegedly turned down women of color from entering its Halloween party on Friday, according to students.
Sofia Petros-Gouin, a student from Columbia, was visiting friends at Yale and said she decided to come to the party.
"A group of girls came up who were predominantly black and Hispanic. He held his hand up to their faces and said, 'No, we're only looking for white girls,'" Petros-Gouin said, according to the Washington Post. "I'm a woman of color myself. So at that point I don't want to be here myself."
Neema Githere's post about how other women were not allowed in the party went viral, drawing comments citing the same experience.
I'd just like to take a moment to give a shoutout to the member of Yale's SAE chapter who turned away a group of girls...
Posted by Neema Githere on Saturday, October 31, 2015
Dean of Student Engagement Burgwell Howard contacted a student who witnessed the events.
"You should be aware that I have been contacted by the chapter president, and he is anxious to understand exactly what you and your friend experienced," Howard said to the student who wanted to remain unnamed, Yale Daily News reported. "He has received some mixed reports from his membership who may have been staffing the door that evening, so he would like to hear to accounting from you and your friend to see what actions may need to taken with his members."
Yale SAE President Grant Mueller has been in communication with administrators of Yale and the fraternity's representatives.
"Obviously I was shocked and flabbergasted [at the idea] that anyone in SAE would even have these words come from their mouths," he said, according to the Yale Daily News. "It's just kind of upsetting for me because we try to be so incredibly accepting and take pride in our diversity."
Mueller also added that members of the fraternity will attend a forum today at the Afro-American Cultural Center to discuss the incident.
This case of racist accusations is not new for the members of SAE. In 2014, SAE's University of Oklahoma Chapter was sanctioned following a video of members chanting that people of color would not be allowed in the fraternity, according to the Telegraph.
