Members of the historically white fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) at the University of Connecticut received no punishment for using racial slurs toward the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority, which is predominantly made up of African-Americans.
"We were called wh****, and after establishing that I was a university professional I was verbally accosted, and intimidation tactics were used," Brittney Yancy, the sorority's graduate adviser, said at a town hall meeting hosted by the African American Cultural Center and covered in the The Daily Campus. "They called me a fat black bitch, not just a fat bitch but a fat black bitch."
The altercation began while the two Greek groups were painting the "spirit rock" on Sept. 29.
The university suspended Pike from painting the rocks at the school for a month, but AKA felt the individual members who verbally attacked them should be separately disciplined.
"I have to deal with the fact that the student who has verbally accosted me received no punishment," Yancy told The Daily Campus.
AKA was apparently told by Vice President of Student Affairs Christine Wilson that a group filing a complaint could not appeal the decision made by Community Standards - which was untrue.
During the meeting offensive social media posts directed at AKA were also brought to the attention of school officials.
"Students have brought many of [those posts] to my attention," Willena Kimpson Price, director of UConn's African American Cultural Center, said to the Hartford Courant. "I think some of them could be characterized as racist for sure."
Some are arguing gender might have played a role in the altercation because it was a small group of women being targeted by a large group of men.
"I think the issue needs to be talked about in terms of race and gender," Evelyn Simien, an associate professor of political science at UConn, said to the Courant. "This is a public safety issue involving women on campus.
