About 250 students crammed into Brace Commons last night to hear officers of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity read from what members of the audience called a racist and sexist script, which new members of the house wrote and acted out in November.
Members of the house decided to release the document to the public on the recommendation of Dean of the College Lee Pelton, according to Matt Richardson '97, Alpha Chi's president.
Richardson said he did not know a copy of the script existed until two weeks ago, when he heard Pelton had received a copy anonymously. Richardson said the script may have been intercepted when it was photocopied at the College copy center in November.
Richardson said Alpha Chi wanted to address the issue in a public format to engender dialogue and find solutions.
He prefaced the discussion by saying the script, which was acted out at a house banquet during Fall term, was intended as a caricature of senior members of Alpha Chi. Richardson omitted students' names when he read the script last night.
One part of the script describes a scene in which an Asian Alpha Chi brother visiting Korea is approached by a pledge portraying a pimp. The brother's Korean is so poor he inadvertently "answers 'yes' to everything," according to a stage direction.
At the end of the encounter, the brother "ends up with a Korean whore," [the whore "wearing sign 'post-mastectomy Korean whore']," according to the script.
The passage evoked outrage and disgust from the emotionally charged audience.
"My mom died of cancer. I watched my mom waste away for a whole year," Ruth Morgan '96 said. "To listen to people make fun of [mastectomy] isn't funny."
Morgan said what was intended to mock a single brother ended up mocking the whole community.
Andy Hall '97, one of Alpha Chi's new member educators, said, "We do not think these things are funny. We say no, that is wrong."
Richardson said brothers at the meeting responded negatively to the scene when it was acted out in November. He said the pledges who portrayed the pimp and the brother were verbally reprimanded after the incident occurred.
But many members of the audience said Alpha Chi should have done more.
A member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, who said he was afraid his organization would be confused with Alpha Chi because of their similar names, said his chapter recently expelled a member for making offensive remarks.
Another member of Alpha Phi said he verbally rebuked a different pledge who described women in objectionable terms.
Jeff Jardin '97, one of Alpha Chi's social chairs, said Alpha Chi took this same action when the skits were performed in November.
A different scene in the pledge script describes a woman as a brother's "victim," in a stage direction.
English Professor Tom Luxon, who attended the discussion, asked whether the use of the word victim "wasn't a somewhat casual reference to a rape victim."
Hall said the use of the word was "mysterious," but said he doubted whether assault was implied. Rather, he said, the reference was making fun of a brother.
"Anyone who would go out with him is a victim," he said.
The script uses the word "grimbo man" referring to a brother who dated ugly women, Richardson said.
A member of the audience speculated that the word "grimbo" was a combination of "grim" and "bimbo."
The script also refers to a member of Alpha Chi as a "pussy."
Mike Roberts '96, a member of the audience last night, said "there is definitely a pattern of behavior that we're shown that needs to be addressed on a grand scale."
"In some sense this is institutionalized," he said. "That is what scares me most."
BreeAnne Clowdus '97 said she is most disturbed that new members felt comfortable presenting such a skit to the fraternity.
"We want to hear every ... one of you stand up and apologize," she said.
Kristin Doolittle '96 said, "not one person has said 'I'm sorry,'" which prompted a barrage of apologies from the officers.
Richardson said the house wants to change to eliminate such behaviors.
"All too often at Alpha Chi there is apathy," Richardson said. "This is a time when the house should have come together and talked about this."
One woman in the audience said she admired Alpha Chi for "reaching out to the Dartmouth community."
"It takes a lot of integrity to stand up and say that," she said.
Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders said after the discussion that she thought the forum raised interesting questions.
"Why did these '99s feel having pledge skits dehumanizing women would be accepted?" she asked.
Reinders said she thinks Alpha Chi will be making changes to address the issues of racism and sexism.
"I am confident there will be some changes in their bylaws," she said.
Alpha Chi brothers said they are considering constitutional changes, educational meetings and retreats to prevent occurrences of this nature.
"On the whole, it was incredibly productive and we did the right thing," Richardson said after the discussion. "This is how change comes about."
Richardson said he "learned a lot about being accountable to others in the house."
Pelton, who attended only part of the discussion, said "The discussion seemed constructive ... there was a lot of healthy conversation."
