The Konversation sparks deep discussion in Greek Life
Members of Kappa Alpha Psi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Central Michigan University filled Pearce 226 on Wednesday night to discuss many topics including race relations, discrimination and stereotypes.
Kappa Alpha Psi is a fraternity that is a part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. The fraternity was founded in 1911, and it arrived on CMU’s campus in 1974.
The program, called The Konversation, included a panel with members from Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Psi and Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates. It was the last held event for Kappa week.
The event was inspired by controversy surrounding a viral racist video showing members from a chapter of SAE from the University of Oklahoma chanting about the exclusion of African Americans.
Sterling Heights senior Terry Gissendanner Jr. is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, and said the program was needed on campus to show that actions of a few shouldn’t necessarily represent a whole.
“We contacted SAE to see if they wanted to get on the program because we knew a couple of members and we knew that they were good guys, and they actually have an African-American that is a part of their chapter,” Gissendanner Jr. said. “We didn’t want (the video) to cause anybody who didn’t have a relationship with them to judge them in a certain way.”
Flint junior Jerrell Redwine was in the audience and said he was happy to engage in conversations about diversity in front of a diverse crowd.
“This was a great event to bring different ethnicities together, and to aggressively to find a solution,” Redwine said. “I liked how (SAE members) gave testimonies about how they were accepted for their differences at this SAE chapter.”
Canton senior Brandon Davis is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi was pleased to see the turnout of CMU students from different backgrounds prepared to talk about some uncomfortable subjects.
“If you were to just have all (Whites) talk about it you would have one point of view, and it would be one-sided, and the same thing with all black people,” Davis said. “By combining the majority and the minority you can get different points of view, and everyone can take something from this event.”
