LETTER: Campus Racism

I would like to share with you a disturbing event which took place on April 11, 1992. A group of African-American students returning from Delta Kappa Epsilon's "DKE 'Till Dawn" party gathered in the lobby of High Rise South. Some students were chatting and laughing with friends while others awaited transportation to another event. During this time, Public Safety was called twice and the McGinn Security guard was asked to escort us out of the building. Not once were we informed by the guard or by the desk worker that we were causing a disturbance. I would like to add that when the four officers came rushing into the building they asked us what the disturbance was and seemed quite annoyed to learn the senselessness behind the call. Because I am a desk worker for West Campus, I have seen many instances where drunken Caucasian students in large groups come into the lobby of our various dorms singing and hanging on to one another. In this state, they remain in the lobby socializing for as long as one half hour or so. Even though they are asked several times to quiet down, never have they been escorted out of the building. As students of this "great" Ivy League institution who pay in excess of $20,000 a year, we should be able to sit on any chair, couch or bench in any building on campus. I agree that no student should be permitted to create a disturbance on campus; however, just being African American and accompanied by several comrades does not a disturbance make. The community needs to erase the image that if there is more than one African American in a room that there is going to be trouble. It amazes me that after the University vowed to take a stand against racism and to incorporate "Diversity Education" into the Penn curriculum, how this type of harassments still prevails. I have witnessed several racist incidents this academic year alone. It seems to me that the situation is getting worse, not better. Everyone needs to become more sensitive and the Penn community as a whole needs to wake up. SHANNON FIDDIMAN President Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated

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