Letter to the Editor

On the morning of Saturday, May 1st, a concerned group of Columbians from both Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity and the Chicano Caucus met to discuss their reactions to the Facebook invitation for AEPi’s Cinco de Mayo themed party and the best way to handle a potentially divisive situation within the Columbia community. We would like to share the results of this experience so that Columbia may grow as a uniquely vibrant and supportive group of people.

At AEPi, our original intentions were not to demean Mexican culture. Because of the coincidental timing on the calendar, we attempted to link the party’s theme to the upcoming holiday, Cinco de Mayo. Unfortunately, our theme was offensive to a substantial community on campus.

As a Greek organization at Columbia, we are always working to enhance student life on campus and therefore must be mindful of how something we do could potentially splinter the community. Hosting a party that encourages attendees to celebrate Mexican heritage by emulating reprehensible stereotypes does not help to sustain a bond between members in the Columbia community. We would like to clarify that our actions did not come from a place of racism or hatred, but rather one of carelessness and folly. When notified about the reaction to our event from the Chicano Caucus, we immediately changed the event description and took steps to prevent any inappropriate portrayal of Mexican culture by party goers. The Iota Chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity would like to offer a public apology to the members of the Chicano Caucus and anyone whom we offended with the Facebook invitation to our Cinco de Mayo-themed party.

While the Chicano Caucus’ intentions were to fight stereotyping and preserve the image of Mexican culture by expressing disapproval of certain aspects of the invitation in an opinion-editorial, it was by no means an attempt to isolate or criticize AEPi . The Chicano Caucus took this into careful consideration when writing the piece, only criticizing the wording of the invitation and not AEPi as an institution. Further, the Caucus felt it was necessary to address a much broader issue - that cultural insensitivity towards people of color is an issue not just affecting Columbia University, but the entire nation as well. The Caucus understands that the decision to publish the piece may have created resentment towards AEPi, but by no means was this the goal. We recognize that AEPi’s willingness to engage in open-minded dialogue following our publication shows their ongoing commitment to tolerance. We hope that hostility toward either group will not continue on our campus.

Hopefully, this incident can raise awareness to all Columbia students who plan events and caution them to examine the respectfulness of their events’ themes. Themes that typify an entire culture, gender, or socioeconomic class have been taken too far and can no longer be considered “just a joke” or a “silly and fun theme” (i.e. Eurotrash, Ghetto-themed parties, Golf Pros & Tennis Hoes, Jersey Shore, Saint Patty’s Day). We are sorry to those who were hurt by our actions and hope our example will prevent others from making the same mistakes in the future.

Thank you,
AEPi Iota and the Chicano Caucus