Greek leaders and administrators yesterday launched an investigation into allegations that some members of Psi Upsilon fraternity shouted harassing and racist remarks at a female passerby last Friday night.
The female student, who spoke with The Dartmouth on condition of anonymity, described about five students standing on the Psi U lawn chanting "Wah-hoo-wah, scalp 'em, scalp 'em" at the urging of several more students standing on the house balcony.
As she approached the house, walking toward West Wheelock Street from the direction of Thayer Dining Hall, the student said the chanting stopped. Then the Psi U members started again, this time chanting, "Wah-hoo-wah, scalp those bitches," she said.
Saying she felt both shocked and disgusted, the student -- who is a member of the Greek system -- said she instictively yelled at the house, "Psi U is so cool!"
"I guess I just wanted them to know that I was listening," she told The Dartmouth last night. "I was kind of scared after I did it."
Psi U President Michael Holick '02 confirmed to The Dartmouth that an incident took place on Friday. However, he said it involved only four members of the fraternity. He declined to identify any of them and said that only two of the students were active participants.
An account of the incident -- written by the anonymous female student -- was widely circulated via BlitzMail (email) yesterday and was the means by which many community members first learned of the allegations.
"From all indications, it seems that the blitz [message] that has been forwarded is legitimate and the allegations are accurate," Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Shihwan Chung '02 said.
And although Holick declined to elaborate on the details of the incident, he wrote in a letter to the editor of The Dartmouth today that his fraternity does not sanction "racist or misogynist behavior" and that the "Wah-hoo-wah" song is not a part of the "lore" of the house.
Speaking as representatives of the CFS system, both Chung and CFSC Vice President Lauren Lafaro '02 had strong reactions to the incident and said that they have been in contact with Assistant Dean of Residential Life Cassie Barnhardt about the pending investigation.
"It is absolutely, positively unacceptable behavior," Chung said.
In a letter to the editor today, Chung added, "I assure the Dartmouth community that this incident will not pass without action from the council."
If it did occur as described in the BlitzMail message, Lafaro said, "Such an action was deplorable and reflects badly not only on the individuals but on their house."
"Something like this is something that will have to be dealt with and adjudicated," Chung said yesterday. "Anytime that an individual insults a race, or in this case race and women, it goes against the Dartmouth Principle of Community."
Director of the Native American Program Michael Hanitchak said that for some, making use of Dartmouth's Indian mascot heritage -- of which the "Wah-hoo-wah" chant is a part -- may be more of a rebellion against College administration than expression of racism.
"Sitting up there and doing that chant, my guess would be, there's a certain cache in bucking the system and doing things which are known to be disproved," he said.
But because such behaviors impact certain groups of people negatively, Hanitichak said he believes conduct like that alleged to have taken place Friday night is in fact racist, albeit unintentional.
Chung, Lafaro and Barnhardt said that they could not discuss possible punishments until the investigation had clarified the sequence of events that took place Friday evening. Barnhardt said she was unsure what effect Psi U's quick apology might have on the CFSC Judiciary Committee's decision.
Psi U yesterday seemed to be attempting to engender as much good feeling as possible by atoning expeditiously for the misdeeds of its members.
"We are not taking this lightly and we are not looking to merely apologize for this, but we are looking to take accountability for this," Holick said yesterday.
"[The house members] are taking this pretty seriously," Holick said. "I think they understand this has offended a large number of students on campus and we're willing to take actions necessary to repair our relationship with the community."
Chung later said it will be necessary for the fraternity to do exactly that, noting that the CFSC will be reviewing whatever action Psi U does take to discipline the accused parties.
The anonymous female student said she spoke out about the incident because she wanted the Dartmouth community to be aware of the continued occurrence
"I didn't think that this kind of stuff still happened on our campus," she said. "If people don't know about it, they can pretend like incidents of blatant racism and sexism don't happen."
The student said she wished to remain anonymous -- at least for the time being -- to avoid a possible backlash or harrassment.
"I think that my identity is irrelevant. It could have happened to any woman on this campus. It might as well have happened to all of us," the female student said.
