Fraternity faces consequences of crude joke
By Annie Beecham, Campus Life writer
May 1, 2007 | 12:33 a.m.
New members of the Theta Chi fraternity painted one of the graffiti walls on Richland Avenue the first week of April. They are now performing community service and other duties in punishment for the image and phrase they painted.
The phrase “Bangin’ bitches with no rubbas and no arms” was plastered on the wall accompanied by a picture of a human figure: legs spread eagle and no arms.
The graffiti walls on Richland Avenue are painted to advertise events, celebrate birthdays, and to speak out against important issues. They have been a popular message center since the early 1970s, replacing the Kissing Circle.
The walls are an area of free speech where students can express whatever they want.
“The constitution protects the rights of individuals to express themselves even if their expression is hurtful to others,” Dean of Students Terrence J. Hogan said. “There is no restriction on making a statement that is hateful or degrading.”
However, there are consequences when messages are degrading or offensive, as in the case of the image painted by Theta Chi members.
“When members of the university community express themselves in ways that are inconsistent with the values of the community, we will continue to do what we have done, as in the Theta Chi situation—speak out publicly against the message and bring our concerns directly to those who have made the expression.” Hogan said.
The message was painted by the six newest members of Theta Chi. The repercussions of their actions are being felt by the Theta Chi fraternity as a whole and the entirety of the Greek community.
Intrafraternity Council President Walt Williamson commented that the members’ actions were “inappropriate” and that the events reflect poorly on the whole Greek community.
Nicholas Gatz, President of the Ohio University chapter of Theta Chi agreed. “It obviously reflects poorly on Theta Chi, Greek Life and Ohio University," he said. "It is too early to tell how this will affect our recruitment, but my chapter and I are taking the necessary steps to fix this problem.”
The fraternity is going to be required to perform 50 hours of community service, to make a $200 donation to the Make-a-Wish foundation and to host a sexual awareness event.
“They are young and haven’t been in the system long, so I don’t think they realized the ramifications of their action,” Gatz said about the new members who painted the wall.
The tradition of painting the wall is no longer for Theta Chi, and Gatz is confident that there will be no repeat acts.
“I don’t want to emphasize this act. It was dumb and crude, and we have taken every step to rectify it. We want to emphasize that we are putting this behind us and working through it, so it won’t be an issue to our chapter, Greek life, or Ohio University.