In an effort to provoke campus reaction, a group of concerned students placed signs and piles of manure on the front lawns of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and Beta Theta Pi fraternity, late last night, in response to the fraternities' alleged racist and sexist writings.
"Hey Alpha Chi boys, deal with your shit. Release the script," read the sign in the manure on the front lawn of Alpha Chi.
In front of Beta, the sign in the manure read, "Hey Beta boys, deal with your shit. Release the poem."
Members of Beta refused to comment about the incident.
Alpha Chi President Matt Richardson '97 said the objects were left on the house's front lawn, but would not comment further, except to say the fraternity will place an advertisement in The Dartmouth regarding last night's incident.
The Beta poem is an allegedly racist and sexist poem, which was read aloud at a Summer term house meeting.
The Alpha Chi pledge script, which contains allegedly racist and sexist language, was found this term and delivered to administrators, said a female '97 member of the group, who asked to remain anonymous.The Dartmouth received a press release around 12:00 a.m. today from the group that placed the signs and piles of manure on the fraternities' lawns.
The release said the group acted in response to the "two heinous examples of the rampant bigotry plaguing the Dartmouth campus." The group asked that the fraternities release the poem and the script to the Dartmouth community.
The press release explained the group's reasons for taking action.
"We as concerned students will not allow their racism, homophobia and misogyny to go unnoticed, particularly because they are symptoms of a larger problem," it read. "We dumped this shit on the lawns of these two organizations because we are angry."
Another member of the group, who asked to remain anonymous, said the group has no name and would not comment on the composition of its membership.
The member told The Dartmouth, "Things like the Alpha Chi script and the Beta poem exist because they are a part of a system which supports offensive material as humorous rather than the moral and personal outrage that I think people should feel in reaction to this material."
The female '97 said the group acted to upset the fraternities and to incite a dialogue on campus.
The group acted as it did to address the situations, The female '97 said.
"If nothing else happens then we just pissed [the fraternities] off. That would be enough. And hopefully this will incite dialogue," she said.
The female '97 said the group's action was intended to spark a campus reaction.
"This is our reaction to what we perceive is apathy, which has been in the administration and in students," the member said.
The female '97 said the alleged "Alpha Chi script" was discovered this term and "has been sent into administrative channels -- and nothing has been done yet."
"We are just outraged at the shit that is permitted on this campus,' the female '97 said. "Dartmouth is soaked with apathy."
The Beta and Alpha Chi incidents "are only the tip of the iceberg," the female '97 said.
"We are not targeting them specifically. They are manifestations of a greater problem, which the fraternal system nurtures," the female '97 said.
The female '97 requested that Beta and Alpha Chi release their respective poem and script.
"We want it to be out there. They need to be chided for this. This is not something that should go unnoticed and without retaliation," the female '97 said.
The press release said too much time has passed without action since the alleged acts of these fraternities.
"Time has elapsed since [the two incidents], yet the brothers of those houses, as well as the administration and student body, have done nothing," according to the press release.
The female '97 said nothing has changed since the rally held in front of Parkhurst about three weeks ago.
The rally "was a great show. But it's the same people that are always there. It is the people that are not showing up that need to be targeted," the female '97 said.
Things haven't changed," the female '97 stressed. "Those 'old traditions' are in place in 1996 just as they were in the past."
