University Sorority Suspended Following ‘Racist’ PowerPoint Presentation

A sorority in North Carolina has been suspended after one member conducted a PowerPoint presentation in which she rated pictures of Black football players. 

The presentation took place at Methodist University last week, when a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority led her audience through a series of images showing members of the university’s football team from the previous year.

During the presentation, the sorority member is said to have pointed out features such as dreadlocks, noses and lips and discussed whether she found them unattractive in an apparent bid to be ‘funny’.

The sorority received widespread condemnation after a photo of the sorority member standing next to the presentation was posted online, and in the wake of the incident Methodist University released a statement to say the sorority was suspended indefinitely, pending an investigation.

Per NBC News, the university said:

We believe in action, and we are taking action. Last week, we immediately launched a thorough investigation of a reported incident. This week, the hearing process is already underway. We will complete the hearing process as soon as we can while also following our established protocols.

Alpha Delta Pi has been told to cease and desist from all activities.

Methodist student Ja-Quez Harrell is a former member of the university’s football team and commented on the presentation after receiving a photograph of it the following day.

Speaking to WRAL, he commented, ‘I don’t see why something along the lines of this is funny. I don’t see how it’s funny. With everybody that was there, how come nobody stopped it?’

Methodist University has said it cannot comment on any possible case involving a student, but Chief Diversity Officer Quincy Malloy stressed in a statement on Facebook that the school does not tolerate racism.

He wrote, in part, ‘We abhor racism in any form on campus, and we immediately investigate all possible incidents of racism and act on them appropriately, as warranted by the facts.’

The person responsible for the presentation is said to have apologised to one of the football players included in a direct message, in which they claimed they ‘did not mean for any of this to be targeted towards individuals and certainly did not mean any of this in a malicious way’.

The sorority member also promised the presentation ‘was not targeted at African Americans in any way’.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org/talk