The College Fix

One photo of a North Carolina State University student dressed as a gangster at a recent off-campus “CMT vs. BET”-themed party in Raleigh has prompted some students to become so emotionally distraught that they held a “town hall” meeting on campus Monday night to discuss their feelings and call for more diversity training.

The Technician campus newspaper has been covering this story since the photo first emerged on social media late last week. It shows a male student dressed in a flannel next to another guy dressed in a white T-shirt, blue bandanna covering his face, and throwing a gang sign.

“Student party at The Retreat parodies ‘black culture,'” the campus paper breathlessly reported Friday. It quoted one student as saying attendees “dressed up like music awards shows.” But the one picture of a wanna-be Crips gang member prompted the newspaper to report “students donned racist costumes depicting stereotypes of black culture.” It also pointed out “CMT vs. BET”-themed parties have caused controversies at other campuses in the past, prompting accusations of racism and cultural appropriation.

For those keeping track, it is now deemed racist to not only dress like a gangsta, but also Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

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Meanwhile, students at the town hall, held at the campus African American Cultural Center, bemoaned how racist and insensitive their campus is because of the party’s theme, and the photo linking Black Entertainment Television with a guy dressed up like a thug.

“‘Embarrassed.’ ‘Disgusted.’ ‘Honestly, not surprised.’ Those were only some of the emotionally charged phrases passed around,” The Technician reported, adding talk turned to calls for action, including “requiring more diversity training for members of Fraternity and Sorority Life, introducing an athletic loyalty point system for attending diversity education events, introducing more diversity-based seminars at orientation [and] creating a cultural competency campaign on campus.”

For those who think the reaction is all a bit much, Karli Moore, liaison for the Student Government Association, has a message.

“It is disheartening to hear the message you’re overreacting or being too sensitive because I think people with marginalized groups would turn around and say, ‘You’re not reacting enough,'” Moore told WRAL.

Meanwhile, university officials “said there is no evidence that Thursday’s party was hosted by a campus organization, but the investigation is ongoing,” WRAL reports.

But North Carolina State officials may want to think twice before they start getting involved in punishing off-campus, private parties. After UCLA suspended a Greek organization for its “Kanye Western”-themed party earlier this month, free speech experts pointed out they had no legal authority whatsoever. It’s called the First Amendment.

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