Editorial: Party an opportunity for dialogue

This past weekend, Sigma Chi fraternity hosted a "Viva Mexico" party that incorporated Latino stereotypes that were seen as derogatory by many members of the student body. In the wake of this event, the University community is left with several important questions to consider. Above all else, the various groups and individuals involved must resist the temptation to trade blame and point fingers, and instead use this unfortunate occurrence to open meaningful dialogue on the status of racial interaction on campus.

 First, it is necessary to determine whether Sigma Chi's actions were intentional and/or malicious. Judging from the response from members of the fraternity in the past few days, it is clear that the negative messages communicated by members of the fraternity--through party decorations, flyers and attitudes--were not intended to be offensive. Oftentimes, an action that is intended to be "all in good fun" in the eyes of one group can be interpreted very differently by another group. This by no means excuses Sigma Chi for what was obviously a tremendous lapse in both foresight and judgement. However, it is important to acknowledge that this event was not the result of a deeper resentment or dislike for a particular racial group, but rather an error in judgement that can be avoided in the future by participation in campus-wide dialogue now.

 Secondly, there have been several calls for the administration to punish Sigma Chi, and for University officials to scrutinize party themes more closely in general. While Sigma Chi's actions offended members of the University community, no explicit policies were broken. The organization should not be punished by the University. However, it will necessarily be punished in an indirect sense by the negative publicity and reputational tarnishing that accompany an incident such as this. The party and its ramifications will undoubtedly be on the minds of those involved for some time to come, and these students will have to put forth effort to regain the trust and respect of certain segments of the community.

 Further, University Event Services officials have been criticized for allowing Sigma Chi to proceed with the "Viva Mexico" theme. It is easy to be critical in hindsight, but there was no reason to assume that such negative stereotypes would emerge from such a broad and unfocused party title. In the future, Event Services should advise groups on themes they find to be problematic, but the ultimate decision on themes must remain with the selective organizations themselves. In most cases, especially after this weekend's incident, groups can be trusted to exercise prudence in planning their social events around non-racially insensitive ideas.

 Many Latino groups on campus have cited the Sigma Chi party as being indicative of larger racial problems in the Duke community. This event, rather than being a divisive point in the University's social fabric, could be transformed into a powerful learning experience. Students should engage in active dialogue with Sigma Chi and each other, to increase awareness and prevent future misunderstandings.