University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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1 | mm H opes of a future home are dashed by the incident that occured on August 18. Sigma Phi Epsilon’s charter was suspended due to the racially offensive words shouted at a professor. Members that were not involved in the incident eventually decided to close their chapter because of financial reasons. (Photo by Walt Beazley] A fter taking pictures of the statue, a chair was thrown from a window which landed in front of Professor Carlton Bailey. Bailey reported the act to the University Police and University administration shortly thereafter. (Photo by Walt Beazley] Sigma Phi Epsilon 9

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National fraternity loses its local raternityRemoved charter due to a racial incident. -j. Was it a racial thing or not? A black statue with the tag “Sambo” sat on the front porch of a fraternity house. Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity has had its charter suspended from the Univer¬ sity for two years as of September 6, due to the incident involving a painted statue of a black figure with a nametag reading “Sambo.” “Sigma Phi Epsilon was one of the first fraterni¬ ties to eliminate racial and religious member¬ ship standards and val¬ ues,” Kenneth Maddox, executive director of the national fraternity said. “The undergraduate chapter’s Alumni Board and the national frater¬ nity moved swiftly to sus¬ pend the chapter’s char¬ ter and our Fayetteville area alumni strongly support these actions.” “An alumni advisory council has begun inter¬ viewing each former member of the sus¬ pended chapter to deter¬ mine which individuals may be asked to return to T his photograph shows the bench where the statue of Sambo was when law professor Carlton Bailey took its picture. Bailey said while he was taking the picture, people within the house shouted the word ‘nigger’ at him. The statue was removed from the bench after the incident occurred. [Photo by Walt Beazley] Keith Lindley chair was thrown from a window, and it bounced in front of him. Bailey reported the incident to University Police depart¬ ment that evening and later reported it to the University administration. “I did not ask them to do anything about the statue,” Bailey said. “I took the picture to confirm the statue exists. Usu¬ ally when something like this happens, the Univer¬ sity says ‘it wasn’t there, or it never happened, or you didn’t see what you thought you saw.’” Bailey was told that Sigma Phi Epsilon consid¬ ered the statue to be a “positive, uplifting thing for black people.” One of Sigma Phi Epsilon’s mem¬ bers is part black, and they said they would not place a statue on their porch which they deemed racially offensive. Bailey was told that the fraternity members did not know who was shout¬ ing the word “nigger.” He was also informed that, the statue was destroyed. “If that’s the case, a reconstituted chapter,” Maddox said. On August 18, Carlton Bailey, a black law professor at the University, was tak¬ ing photographs of the statue on the front porch of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fra¬ ternity house. Bailey says that while he was on the lawn taking pictures, people from within the house were shouting the word “nigger” at him. As he turned to leave, a Bailey said, “and the statue is positive for black people, and they have a mem¬ ber who is part black, why not keep the statue on the front porch,” Bailey said. Members involved directly in the inci¬ dent were asked to give up their mem¬ bership in the fraternity. The remaining; members o f Sigma Phi Epsilon decided to disband at the end of the first semes-1 ter due to the suspension. 8 Sigma Pin Epsilon

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IRST IMPRESSIONS Orientation Leaders try to make life easy for new students. A misty fog lingered in the already- humid early morning air as a steady stream of sleepy students dressed in red- and-white stripes anxiously headed, al¬ beit in no particular hurry, from Gregson Lodge toward the Union. Once the balloons were in place, the Hogs had been called and the greeter with peppermints was ready, smiling faces wel¬ comed the masses with the popular slogan, “We’re glad you’re here!” “I like working with people, and I love going to school at Arkansas,” junior Leslie Lee said. “Be¬ ing an Orientation Leader allowed me to help other people like it here as much as I do.” New Student Orienta¬ tion, a process which, for most people, involved a one- or two-day time commitment, really be¬ gan with the selection of more than 30 student Orientation Leaders, of¬ ten described as hyper, happy and anything but shy, in early spring. In T elling it like it is, Orientation Leader Rebecca Taylor i discusses campus life with her small group. Many Orientation Leaders tried to be as animated as possible in order to keep the new students’ attention. [Photo by Susan Rinehart] Matt Maverick small group meetings, campus tours and their first brush with the Hogcall telephone registration system, Orientation Leaders fielded questions ranging from which pro¬ fessors were tough to the location of the nearest bathroom. “I remember asking lots of questions,” freshman Randall Brumfield said. “Most of them seem petty now, like ‘Is there a dress code when you go to class?’ I wasn’t even sure how to say mV major -- kinesiology. Orien¬ tation definitely helped to answer my questions.” “The best part about be¬ ing an Orientation Leader was meeting new students and being their first contact with the University,” junior Chase Harding said. “I liked helping them make their schedules and watching them pulling out their hair because they weren’t geti ting the classes they wanted. I would tell therM ‘It’s not a big deal. You’re going to be here for awhile.’! Sometimes running witl 1 only their enthusiasm left ' Orientation Leaders faced June, a rigorous training process began, from which emerged a knowledgeable, eager team whose work with thousands of incoming students and their families was just beginning. “The first session was definitely the most memorable, because that’s what we had prepared for,” Lee said. “It finally came, and I was so excited.” Leading the new students through their days (often 18-hours long) with th e knowledge that, somehow, they were mak ing a difference in others’ lives. “I remember sitting in the Leader Loung totally worn out and tired, but knowing th I had to go back out there and smile in thre e minutes,” Harding said. “But, I think it important that Orientation leaves yo knowing there is someone at the Univeq sity who cares about you being here.” 10 Orientation