Members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity apologized Tuesday to the Black Student Association for an event that occurred at the Fiji Islander party in April.

The issue was dealt with by university administration immediately after the event but was not made public. OU President David L. Boren told BSA members at the meeting that he takes responsibility for the way the situation was handled and, in retrospect, he said not making the issue public was not the right decision.

Boren said he should have called members of the community together and explained what happened. He said he did not do this because few people knew about the event and making it public would only hurt more feelings. Also, the fraternity was punished immediately for its actions through social probation and required community service. The party was also canceled.

The issue was brought to Boren's attention this semester after a group of student leaders had a meeting about racial insensitivity on campus. Student leaders told Boren that they felt the Fiji incident needed to be discussed openly among students. Some students who did know about the event were hurt by the perceived stereotyping and needed closure, they said.

As part of the festivities of the island party theme, the fraternity painted the face of their Islander god a dark color and portrayed him with enhanced genitalia, which they said was meant to make him stand out from the other members wearing bright colors. The Islander god was placed on a throne and taken to the sorority houses to invite women to the party. The fraternity also paraded the Islander god down Lindsey Street.

UOSA President Alex Yaffe apologized as a member of the Fiji fraternity and as a leader of the student body.

"There was no malintent, but that doesn't replace the harm that was done to some and the bad feelings that were had and the emotions that we stirred up. For those feelings, I want to apologize," Yaffe said.

Yaffe did not attend the event because he was campaigning for UOSA president that night. But he did say that whatever he does reflects upon his fraternity, and whatever they do reflects upon him.

Fiji President Ryan Posey said the event will not happen again. Members of the fraternity did tell the BSA that a similar event had occurred in past years. Yaffe said it was a "stupid" prank and the fraternity members did not think about it having a racial connotation. After discussing with Boren the events that occurred, they realized the magnitude of their actions.

"When we did have that discussion, we thought to ourselves, we are really pretty blind and really pretty stupid," Yaffe said.

Boren said he had learned his lesson in this event and he felt the most important issue was to be truthful. He said a family has problems and they have to work them out. Facing up to that as a university family is just being honest, he said.

BSA members asked the fraternity members what steps they had taken to resolve the issue. Posey said the fraternity held a racial sensitivity seminar and encouraged members to attend a protest against racial insensitivity held earlier this month. But Yaffe said that is not enough. He said everyone on campus needs to do more than just teach tolerance.

"Tolerating is just getting by," he said. "We need to understand each other."

Yaffe said he hopes the discussion will give closure and apologizes for the bad series of coincidences.

BSA member Shawn Harris, civil engineering senior, said he appreciated the meeting, but feels people need to follow through with their actions.

"I think that all the right stuff was said," he said. "A lot of people did a lot of talking. Basically, less talk, more action."
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