TKE WHIPPING INCIDENT

On the morning of March 22nd, a video of several white members of the UGA chapter of the TKE fraternity went viral. One member seems to be whipping the other, telling him to “pick my cotton.” When prodded by an offscreen member, the man uses racial slurs. This video, immediately condemned by social media, is a clear mockery of slavery. Incidents such as these lead to several questions: What happens behind closed doors? Would this crystal clear act of racism had even been addressed without video evidence? How normal and representative is this video of greek life? On twitter the University of Georgia responded:
"The University of Georgia condemns racism in the strongest terms. Racism has no place on our campus. We will continue our efforts to promote a welcoming and supportive learning environment for our students, faculty and staff.”
How did the university ensure that “racism has no place on campus?” UGA representation did not appear at any events unpacking this incident held by organizations like the NAACP and SGA. UGA representation claims to have conducted an investigation, yet none of the individuals responsible for the video were expelled from the university. While the university itself would never admit it, the ‘disappointed, but not surprised’ response of the student body confirms the bleak truth: the only unique quality of the TKE incident is that it actually gained the attention of the university (Manoylov 2019).
While the video itself lends more than enough to analyze, the limited response of the university dives directly to the root of the issue. A town hall-esque meeting held by the UGA chapter of the NAACP took place after the video came to light. Students were quick to note the lack of university presence at the event. The Student Government Association held discussions on the topic of racism on campus, and once again, there was a serious lack of university presence at the events (Guzman & Gratas 2019). For an institution that claims that “racism has no place on our campus,” it does a pathetically poor job in ensuring that it doesn’t. While expelled from the UGA chapter of TKE, none of the students involved were expelled from the university. Racism is forgiven by the University of Georgia and most certainly has a place on campus, particularly when it threatens the institutional behemoth of greek life. The University of Georgia, when “condemning” acts of racism and other scandals that erupt from greek life, establishes 2 things: the University of Georgia does not support racism, and that being said, it is in no way responsible for any act of racism that occurs on campus. UGA’s refusal to punish racism on campus beyond a superficial, text “condemnation” of bigotry ensures that acts like the TKE incident will keep happening.