
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991                   TAG: 9104200375
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Short

GEORGE MASON U. PUNISHES GREEKS

George Mason University placed a fraternity and sorority on probation Friday for staging a show, described by critics as racially insensitive, in which a white male student dressed as a black woman.

"We need to channel the anger, and I'm concerned about what will happen, but ultimately I did what I felt was necessary to do," Dean of Student Services Kenneth E. Bumgarner said.

He acted after two weeks of tension over the performance on the 20,000-student commuter campus.

Sigma Chi fraternity was placed on probation for two years and Gamma Phi Beta sorority for one year.

They will be prohibited from holding parties or other traditional campus activities.

In addition, they must plan educational programs for all fraternity and sorority members "addressing cultural differences, diversity and the concerns of women."

Some students said they considered the punishment too harsh. "Events like this had happened on the campus before," said Sigma Chi President John Singsank, 23, said. "I just think that when you look at the other precedents this is very harsh. We'll just go along with it and see what happens."

At a Sigma Chi fund-raising event April 4, 18 fraternity members were dressed by women from six sororities and paraded across a stage in women's clothing.

One fraternity member, dressed by women from Gamma Phi Beta, wore a blouse, a wig and a pillow strapped to his backside, and appeared in blackface. It proved highly offensive to blacks, who make up 5 percent of the student body.

by CNB