same ole mississippi
Student accuses DKE of assault
Freshman 'terrified,' said he was forced to leave party based on his race
Nicole Spinuzzi
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: News
Jeremiah Taylor, a University of Mississippi freshman, says he might file a lawsuit over the events of a Friday night fraternity party where he says he was berated with racial slurs.
Freshman Jeremiah Taylor had mingling on his mind when he tried out the fraternity scene at a Delta Kappa Epsilon party Aug. 22, but he found something very different there, he says.
Taylor said he was humiliated by comments about a "racial rush list" and that the night ended when he was asked to leave and then pushed down the stairs.
"I was terrified after coming out of the house," he said. "I was trying to gain my composure. I was in disbelief and almost cried. I thought this (racism) died a long time ago."
Taylor said he is considering filing a lawsuit against the DKE fraternity because of the incident.
Although no charges have been filed, Taylor said he will do what needs to be done pending the outcome of the investigation.
Dean of Students Sparky Reardon said he could not talk about details of the case at this point.
"The incident is under investigation," Reardon said.
University police Chief Jeff Van Slyke said he was also not at liberty to comment on the case because he does not want to hinder the investigation.
"We have received the complaint and the investigation is pending," Van Slyke said. "We are trying to gather as much facts by those who were involved."
DKE President Peyton Harper said in an e-mail that DKE has been contacted by UPD about the alleged incident, but is not able to comment on anything at this time.
"DKE will cooperate fully with the investigation," Harper said. "I cannot comment at this time pending the outcome of the situation."
Harper said that until the investigation is concluded, he is unable to determine how this will affect the fraternity.
Consequences for those involved in the incident are dependent on the outcome of the investigation, he said.
Taylor recalls the incident
Taylor and his roommate, William Scott, were invited by Alexandria Reese, a friend of Scott's, to the party.
"I was excited (about going to the party) because I figured that I would see what Ole Miss was about and I could socialize and mingle with new college students like myself," Taylor said. "From the moment I walked in the door I could feel the tension hovering in the air, but I refused to think it was racism in 2007, so I shook it off and followed William upstairs."
Taylor said he was minding his own business when he overheard a DKE member speaking with another member about Taylor, using offensive language and racial slurs - including the n-word.
"I pretended I didn't hear it to avoid humiliation and to avoid getting beat up," Taylor said. "So I told my friend I didn't feel right, but he couldn't hear me, and by then another one of the fraternity guys cut me off and asked me mockingly if I was on the racial rush list."
Confused at the meaning of a "racial rush list," Taylor said the fraternity brother advised him to think about joining a different fraternity where he would better fit in because DKE has a strict racial code.
Taylor said a group of about six or seven males began to hover around him and verbally harass him.
"I remained calm, yet I was terrified, ashamed, embarrassed and highly upset," Taylor said.
After being asked to leave the party, Taylor and his roommate proceeded down the front stairs of the DKE house when Taylor was hit with a beer can.
"I made it mid-way down the stairs and a beer can was thrown at my shoulder," he said. "I turned around to go up the stairs to see who it was and two guys pushed me down. I slid down, but not on my back."
After Taylor and his roommate left the house, several others who were at the party, but not members of DKE fraternity, confronted Taylor and Scott about the situation, Taylor said.
"People were telling me that they didn't agree with what happened," he said.
Scott, who witnessed the event, said the members of the fraternity were hostile towards Taylor.
"I didn't know what was going on," Scott said. "I was trying to get us out of there, because I didn't want to be a part of it anymore. It was just a random party and I thought it would be fun."
After alerting his aunt, Samonia Parker, about the situation, Taylor said he and his family believed the best thing to do was to contact university administration and officials immediately.
Although Parker would not comment on the possibility of a lawsuit, she said she hopes something will be done by the university.
"We hope that all of this gets resolved," Parker said. "We intend on being behind Jeremiah 100 percent."
Taylor said he has decided to take legal action because he doesn't want anyone to go through the pain he has felt because of this incident.
"I just don't understand how after all of these years, we have been moving forward with technology, but we can't even accept one another's color of skin," he said. "Really, I truly am hurt and nothing has ever happened to me like that. It truly was the worst experience of my life. Something must be done. I don't ever want anyone else to endure the pain I am holding."
When asked about how a possible lawsuit would affect the university, Jeffrey Alford, associate vice chancellor of university relations and communications, said he believes it would not directly affect Ole Miss.
"You would have to ask a lawyer, but this did happen at a fraternity-sanctioned function and not a university-sanctioned function, therefore it would not pertain to the actual university," Alford said.
"Certainly, if the alleged incident did happen this would be illegal by university, state and national laws."
Other DKE officers were contacted but did not return calls.
The Office of Greek Life was contacted for comment, but did not return e-mails.
Former pledge remembers racism
Taylor is not the only one who feels that racism has been an issue in the Greek system.
A former DKE pledge, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect existing friendships with members of the fraternity, told The DM he left the fraternity after realizing "the good qualities of the organization did not outweigh the negative qualities."
"When I went through Rush, I noticed that there was a small amount of black students who were going out to join the Greek system," he said. "In a few houses, I heard guys talking about how 'no black guy stands a chance getting into this fraternity.'"
The former DKE pledge said DKE, as well as other fraternities, had no problem excluding blacks from activities.
"It was almost as if it were part of the conversation - 'We're going to pick up girls. Then, let's go to the Library or Pearl Street. Oh, no black people. How was class?'"
|
/
same ole mississippi
