by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
After a forum Monday at African-American Student Services, President David Harris said there needs to be more meetings held to address the return of the Sigma Chi fraternity to UNM.
"I'm willing to commit to some due process here," he said. "I don't have any problem with that."
Finnie Coleman, director of African-American Studies, said the University should take this opportunity to say racism cannot be tolerated, because UNM is seen as a diverse university.
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"If for some reason they (Sigma Chi) have to come back on this campus, then, at the national level, they need to be able to demonstrate very clearly, articulately, how they have changed and how they intend to continue to change, and what it is that they are going to do differently," he said.
Members of the fraternity did not return calls Monday.
Regents and Sigma Chi alumni Don Chalmers and Raymond Sanchez were invited to attend the meeting, but neither did. No other members of the fraternity were invited to attend the forum, said Scott Carreathers, director of
African-American Student Services.
Chalmers said he was not given a formal invitation and was not told about the meeting until Friday
afternoon. He would have attended but was unable because he had meetings all day, he said.
Sanchez did not return calls
Monday.
Sigma Chi was suspended from UNM in 2001 after an incident in which members of the fraternity taped a swastika and left a hate letter on an African-American student's vehicle, which was parked illegally in the fraternity's parking lot.
Coleman said Sigma Chi's history is the problem.
"This particular organization, in my experience for the last 20 years, has consistently defined a negative, racist caricature," Coleman said.
He said Sigma Chi engaged in racist acts on other campuses, including Florida, Auburn University and Stanford.
Michelle Touson, president of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, moderated the meeting, titled "Speak Up or Shut Up."
Harris said Sigma Chi has invited members of the UNM community to go to its national headquarters in Chicago to address their issues.
Touson said Sigma Chi should come to UNM.
"Why should we come to them?" she said. "You want to come back to our campus. This is our home."
Carreathers said the problem is with communication between the University administration and African-American Student Services.
"For me, this no longer became a Sigma Chi issue more than it was a University issue - that we do not communicate well at this
University," he said. "That's why I wanted him (Harris) to come; to have a better communication with this community."
Harris said the fraternity is not back on campus.
"They had been told all the way back last May they could begin organizational efforts," Harris said. "We've only allowed them to initiate a fundraising drive. There's not been any decision or movement to reinstate them."
Student Thomas Littleton, who attended the event, said Sigma Chi might as well be an organization on campus.
"If I'm walking around, and I see them selling Sigma Chi cookies, or doing some type of fundraiser, I would categorize them as a group," he said. "They're not a recognized organization, but that's how all the students are feeling. They're still an organization."
Charles Catlett, who attended the event, said the University should have consulted the
community before Sigma Chi was allowed to organize on campus last spring.
"The student body should have been informed, so they could also make a decision, because it's
affecting their school life," he said.
Debbie Morris, director of student activities, said there were articles published in the Daily Lobo, and people should have known Sigma Chi was trying to come back.
"We weren't hiding the fact,"
she said.
Members of El Centro de la Raza and Native-American Studies also attended the forum, along with at least one person, Catlett, who was not a student or staff member of the University.
Harris said he felt ambushed at the meeting.
"I was told I was going to meet with the African-American student groups and certainly not people who have no association with the University," he said. "I thought that was kind of uncalled for."
Carreathers said the meeting caught Harris off guard, but the University administration should not have to be asked to come address the issue.
"You should have thought, 'This could be offensive to these people. We need to meet about this,'" he said. "This is where the black students have a problem on this campus - it always seems to be an
afterthought."
