Kappa Alpha Theta - Columbia University

The Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta is profoundly disturbed by the anti-black racist statements and images shared by members of the Columbia chapter of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji). We actively condemn the racism and misogyny displayed and will not tolerate it in our community.

We call upon their chapter to go beyond its initial response of demanding disaffiliation of the involved members. We ask the brothers of Fiji to scorn the racist sentiments of their members in a systematic way, addressing the core of the issue — that those who circulated and supported this image felt as though the message would be positively received by members of their group chat.

We recognize that dehumanizing statements and images such as those circulated in Fiji’s group chat have been tolerated in the Greek Life community for far too long. We are deeply aware of the historic and insidious role that fraternities and sororities have posed in upholding racially oppressive systems and institutions in the United States. We are actively working towards further educating our own chapter and look forward to partnering with other sororities to hold the entire Greek Life community accountable.

We all must reckon with our racist histories and — if we are to ever overcome them — work to overhaul the norms that enable the turning of blind eyes to injustice. To begin this necessary work, we have committed to a series of internal chapter events discussing anti-black racism, police brutality, implicit bias, and the reasons why our country continues to be so systematically racist. We have also partnered with other Greek organizations to foster these conversations in the broader community.