STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State has had its share of controversy for a while, but this week it is getting some more unwanted attention.
The university's Chi Omega sorority chapter is under investigation after a photo with Latino stereotypes surfaced on a social media site.
It shows a group of sorority members dressed in ponchos and sombreros and wearing fake mustaches. One woman holds a sign that says: "Will mow lawn for weed + beer." Another sign says: "I don't cut grass. I smoke it."
The university's Panhellenic Council said it had received concerns about the photo and that it does not condone derogatory behavior from members.
"The Penn State Panhellenic Council recognizes the offensive nature of the photo and is therefore taking the matter very seriously," the executive board said in a statement.
"We are addressing the situation immediately with the members of the
chapter in conjunction with their national headquarters," it said. "Our
council and all its members strive to hold ourselves to a high standard
and are disappointed by any failure to meet these expectations."
Jessica Riccardi, president of the Chi Omega chapter at Penn State, released an apology to The Daily Collegian newspaper.
"Our chapter of Chi Omega sincerely apologizes for portraying
inappropriate and untrue stereotypes," she said. "The picture in
question does not support any of Chi Omega's values or reflect what the
organization aspires to be."
The independent college blog, Onward State, reported that the photograph
in question was taken at a Mexican-themed party around Halloween. It
was posted last week on Tumblr.
The connections to the sorority were discovered through members' names tagged on Facebook, Onward State said.
The posts have since been taken down.
Penn State public relations director Lisa Powers said that university
officials have had conversations with Chi Omega members and that the
women have expressed "deep remorse."
"The students in the photo are within their First Amendment rights to
express themselves in this way, although we are certainly appalled that
they would display this level of insensitivity and lack of judgment,"
Powers said.
"Because the right of free expression is guaranteed under the
Constitution -- for both behaviors we disagree with or for those that we
support -- we are approaching this as a teachable moment to engage this
group of young women in discussions about their actions and to further
educate them about diversity issues," she said.
Powers said the national leadership of Chi Omega will have to decide if
disciplinary action is warranted. A phone call to the sorority's
headquarters was not immediately returned.
The president of the Penn State Latino Caucus told The Daily Collegian that the photograph shows cultural ignorance.
"In terms of the Latino Caucus, the portrayal of sombreros, ponchos and
mustaches are a huge over simplification of what not only the Mexican
but the Latino culture is like," Ariel Coronel said. "It's being
culturally ignorant, and I really do hope that the sorority tries to
become culturally aware so this type of incident doesn't happen again
and that people will realize that this is racially and culturally
insensitive."
(NBC News)