Three students were expelled from the Alpha Phi sorority at George Washington University after a racially charged Snapchat circulated widely on social media. The photo sparked outrage among student government at GWU, which voted unanimously to remove the sorority from Greek life at the university.
The racist photo in question depicts two Alpha Phi sorority sisters — one holding a banana — with a caption that reads: “I’m 1/16 black.”
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The girls weren’t identified but they, along with the girl who took and presumably captioned the photo, were kicked out of the sorority, according to the school’s newspaper, the GW Hatchet.
The sorority also apologized on its Facebook page.
“We recognize that there are issues within our organization relating to our privilege and lack of diversity, and we are committed to listening to the voices of those who have been harmed by the actions of those individuals and by our actions as a chapter,” the statement read.
On Monday night, the Student Senate voted to disband the sorority’s chapter on campus.
“I think it’s a really good decision since the university is moving forward to combat racism,” one GW student told WJLA on Tuesday.
“I think it’s an overreaction,” another said, disagreeing with the decision.
The Student Senate’s vote is purely symbolic and not binding, which means the Washington, D.C. university is not required to take any action on account of the vote.
“Alpha Phi sorority has apologized for the incident and acknowledged issues within the sorority,” GWU president Thomas LeBlanc said in a statement. “University staff are communicating with the national headquarters and considering appropriate actions.”
LeBlanc expressed hope the incident would be a catalyst for change.
“We want to harness the energy that has been generated by this moment to move with purpose and a sense of urgency toward ensuring all students truly feel welcome on this campus,” he said.
GWU announced Thursday that it will require incoming students to undergo diversity training as a direct result of the Snapchat.
The university has also launched an internal investigation, and LeBlanc revealed new details about the posting.
“The individuals pictured were unaware of the social media posting and its content until after it was posted,” LeBlanc wrote. “The picture was posted by a person who has said that they did not intend to offend others and acknowledged that the women in the picture did not know or approve of the associated caption.”
LeBlanc told the Hatchet that the incident will lead to a broad conversation about race on campus.
“This opened up a space to say, ‘You know, it’s bothered me that I’m a person of color and I’ve never been invited to X, it’s bothered me that the institution doesn’t have these things for us but seems to have these things for those students,’” he said. “So just that opening has turned out to be beneficial and something we need to take advantage of.”
This isn’t the first time in recent months Alpha Phi has come under fire. A sister at the University of Alabama was booted from the sorority and the university after making repeated racial slurs, including the N-word, on Instagram.
