It’s sad that during the same week MSU greeks across campus are celebrating the good deeds they do for the Spartan community, the disgraceful actions of one fraternity have given the entire greek system a black eye.
Several members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity wore pink, sleeveless T-shirts that had phrases such as “I like little boys,” “Capt. Gay Sex” and “Fag Hairstylist” written on the back to dinner at Mason and Abbot hall cafeterias April 1 and April 2.
Hateful actions such as these have no place in the Spartan community.
The MSU chapter was rightfully suspended by the national arm of its organization Wednesday, pending an investigation into allegations that the fraternity violated anti-hazing and anti-discrimination policies.
MSU’s greek system also has taken action, suspending fraternity social functions, requiring formal apologies and requiring educational seminars.
And although MSU Pi Kappa Phi President Murat Bashelvaci apologized for the actions and said it illustrated the chapter’s need to learn more about “issues of difference,” his apology is not enough.
This fraternity’s actions were vicious, simply not knowing better cannot be used as an excuse.
What makes this incident of blatant discrimination especially sad is that it comes one year after Judy Shepard visited MSU as a guest educational speaker on issues of indifference and intolerance.
Shepard is the mother of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death in a 1998 hate crime because he was gay.
Greeks were required to attend her address, but it seems the members of Pi Kappa Phi weren’t paying attention to her important message, as evident by their hate-promoting actions. They have set a poor example for a greek system that includes many chapters accepting of all people, regardless of sexual orientation.
Ignorance is never an acceptable excuse when it encourages an atmosphere of hate that could result in tragedies such as the Shepard case.
And while members of Pi Kappa Phi could benefit from extensive sensitivity training, such sessions obviously haven’t worked in the past. A suspension is called for in this case.
The MSU community cannot allow such actions to go unpunished. Hate-breeding ignorance has no home on MSU’s campus nor the rest of the country.
We all need to work to ensure hateful events such as those in the Mason and Abbot hall cafeterias do not happen in the future.
MSU’s greek system and the national arm of Pi Kappa Phi have taken the right steps to punish the Spartan chapter and move to recover from the black eye the fraternity’s actions delivered greeks.
Hate is not welcome here.
