Students from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut have caused outrage on the suburban campus after throwing a party with a “ghetto” theme. Now, after individuals at the Jesuit and Catholic school expressed that the party was racially insensitive, university officials are taking action by opening a dialogue about the incident.
The “ghetto party” was held on Saturday night at an off-campus beach house. The students dressed in stereotypical costumes and posted photos from the event on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Some students were seen with teardrops drawn on their faces, which resembled gang-affiliated tattoos. Others took their offensive attire a step further.
“They were wearing wife-beaters, and one girl shoved a ball in her shirt, and the Snapchat caption was ‘Guess who the daddy is?’ ” Iman Jebara, a junior at Fairfield University, told WTIC.
School officials quickly responded to reports of the party, including University President Jeffrey P. von Arx, who said in an email Monday that the controversial gathering “perpetuated racial stereotypes that have no place in our community and only serve to offend and devalue people.”
The school has revealed that it will make discussing the issue a priority to prevent similar incidents form happening in the future, according to USA Today. The Office of Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs will discuss the incident with students. The faculty and administrators will have an open dialogue on campus about the issue. Lastly, student leaders will plan a student forum centered on racial insensitivity.
“The larger percentage of Fairfield University’s campus is conscious about the world, engaged with multiple communities and dedicated to living a good life with integrity,” said Fairfield Assistant Professor Bryan Ripley Crandall. “Sadly, distasteful micro-aggressions on college campuses occur more often than they should, and they are a symptom of larger illnesses existing in American society. Such behaviors are embarrassing for a number of reasons, but mostly because such ignorance does not represent the majority of students on Fairfield’s campus.”
Fairfield University is considered one of the top regional colleges in the northeast. With a student body of around 5,000, the school’s minority student population is 17 percent.
