Brown and White Vol. 119 no. 19

              Vol. 119 No. 19
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Football wins
regular season
Page 16
ONLINE
Follow us on Twitter
twitter.com/lubrownandwhite
Mother’s cancer changes alum’s life
Page 7
LIFESTYLE
A cappella fires up
Students, faculty react to blackface incident
By JACKIE LYONS
Two white male students, who attended what appears to be an off-campus Halloween weekend party, blackened their faces and arms while wearing tennis clothes and wigs, posing as Serena and Venus Williams.
The incident was brought to the attention of the administra­tion after pictures of the two students at the party surfaced on Facebook.
Though many students were offended by the incident, which has erupted into a source of ten­sion at Lehigh, others don’t be­lieve the students’ intentions were racist.
“I feel that it was Halloween and they were just trying to have a good time, and they didn’t real­ize that what they did could be hurtful,” said Max Fayans, ’13.
“Most of our campus is un­educated about what constitutes racism, but I think the use of blackface is always in poor taste, regardless of the time of the year,” said Karl Brisseaux, ’11, editor of The Brown and Black.
“Besides the paint, the rest of the costume was also sort of goofy with large fake breasts and ter­rible wigs,” Brittany Leigh, ’13, said. “They clearly meant to be funny, and had they realized the gravity of what blackface was, then the incident probably would not have happened.”
John Smeaton, vice provost for Student Affairs said he believed it was clear that the students were unaware of the historical and so­cial implications of blackface, and they did not think their behavior would offend others.
Concepts such as racism, sex­ism, classism and homophobia will not disappear overnight, Bris­seaux said.
These ideas are socially repro­duced and rooted in people on a subconscious level as they grow up and throughout life, he said.
“Things have changed over time, and progress has been made, but the reality is that in order for Lehigh to fully prosper, a specific focus needs to be made on educating students in the same way we educate incoming classes on other issues,” Brisseaux said. “We have done so successfully with regard to sexual violence. Mandatory education is not a bad thing.”
Smeaton explained the histori­cal context of blackface in an e-mail to the Lehigh community.
The practice of blackface ap­peared in the 19th century when white performers portrayed black performers in a negative light and perpetuated racist stereotypes of
See BLACKFACE Page 5
B&W photo by MATT BREITEL
Off the Record, one of Lehigh’s student a cappella groups, sang during A Cappella By the Fire on Saturday night in Lamberton Hall. See more photos on page 4.
FanVan contest
drives school spirit before Lehigh-Laf
By OLIVIA HANDEREK
In preparation for the Lehigh-Lafayette week-long festivities, Student Senate and Business Services have collaborated to create the FanVan contest, in which one student will win the chance to decorate the newest mode of Lehigh transportation.
The Student Senate’s Cam­pus Unity Committee first proposed the FanVan.
In conjunction with Busi­ness Services, the program has become a reality.
“The Campus Unity Com­mittee spent the first few weeks reaching out to other organizations and faculty on campus to see what issues they have been having with the campus climate,” said Fiona Lee, ’12, chair of the Campus Unity Committee.
“We met with Mark Iron­side, director of Business Services, and he asked for some advice to redirect the marketing for athletic games,” Lee said. “Student Senate was already well aware with the transportation issue, and we knew we could tie in a new marketing plan to solve two problems at once. After brain­storming, our committee had come up with a few ideas. The FanVan was the most feasible and most effective idea.”
Lee also acknowledged the help of two other organiza­tions in the creation of the FanVan.
“Student Senate has been a main factor behind this proj­ect but we cannot take all the credit,” she said. “We have
See VAN Page 3
By LAUREN KELLY
How much money do you think you could raise in six weeks? Sigma Phi Epsilon frater­nity raised $20,000 between Oct. 6 and Nov. 11 with help from supporting organizations and in­dividuals as a part of the Election for Cancer Research benefitting the American Cancer Society.
Sig Ep announced the final total at its closing ceremony on Thursday, which was held at the Gander Room at The Goosey Gander II.
The closing ceremony also included a dinner and speakers from the Lehigh community.
Co-chairmen Kyle Schreiner, ’11, and Matthew Melillo, ’11, set their fundraising goal at $30,000. Fundraisers worked at reaching this goal by organizing different events around campus and by encouraging family and friends to donate online.
“Money was raised via a 5K run/walk, donation booths and many other creative methods that particular candidates used,” said Jackie Kocot, ’12. “Hana Harrison and I used letters asking for dona­tions that we sent to family and friends.”
Kocot and Harrison, ’12, teamed up in their fundraising efforts.
“I set my goal as $1,000, and we actually raised almost $2,000,” Kocot said.
Schreiner and Melillo said all of their fundraisers had different results.
“There are always fundrais­ers you have high expectations for that don’t quite meet those
See RESEARCH Page 4
Sig Ep raises $20,000 for cancer research