Culturas de las Razas Unidas, MSU’s Chicano and Latino student organization, released a statement Tuesday saying it isn’t seeking an apology from a fraternity that painted over the organization’s Hispanic Heritage Month display last month.
Instead, CRU officials said fraternity pledges would have never painted over their display on the rock on Farm Lane if MSU administrators had done more to promote diversity on campus.
The statement, agreed upon by a number of student groups represented by CRU, was announced at Tuesday night’s meeting by Marcelina Trevino-Savala, the university’s coordinator for Chicano and Latino student affairs.
“We don’t expect an apology from the frat because we realize the university is not upholding their mission of educating on diversity, ” Trevino-Savala said.
“Therefore we expect the university to start taking responsibility for these issues by educating the whole student body.”
The statement comes three weeks after members of Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, admitted to painting the words “racists” over Sigma Alpha Mu’s display on the rock. The group, which is represented by CRU, has refused to apologize for criticizing the fraternity.
Ryan Beale, Sigma Alpha Mu president, said the fraternity’s pledges shouldn’t have painted over the Hispanic Heritage Month display - especially since they told CRU members they wouldn’t. He also said he hopes people will see the educational benefit of the rock experience.
“The incident has not been forgotten,” Beale said. “There has been a lot of negative attention going back and forth through the media, but we’re hoping to turn this into a positive experience.
“I think the student body has been educated through the incident and we will still work to make something happen. I hope that there’s no hard feelings on any side and I hope that we can work together to bring unity from both sides.”
Marketing junior Tiannie Diaz, who co-chairs CRU, also said the incident at the rock may have never happened if university officials were showing more dedication in promoting campus diversity.
“The thing is, this is always happening,” Diaz said. “It happened to CRU, it happened to MEXA. It’s happened to other organizations and it’s always going to happen. But maybe if the university would take more initiative and make more of an effort to educate students, maybe it wouldn’t happen anymore.”
Lee June, vice president for student affairs and services at MSU, has previously said he wants the fraternity and MEXA to work out their respective differences. But Wednesday, he offered “no response” to CRU’s statement.
“We take CRU’s response as their view,” June said. “We certainly appreciate it and we will take it into consideration.”
