Racial Conflict Strikes UCSD with “Compton Cook-out” and Noose
Aida Solomon | Mar 01, 2010 | Comments 5
UC San Diego is the latest UC that has made the media circuit with the recent racially charged event, “Compton Cookout,” thrown by several members of various fraternities. This was followed by a taping of the school-sponsored “Koala T.V.” featuring the editor of the publication calling the students condemning the event “ungrateful n——.”
On the following Friday, the Black Student Union (BSU) at UCSD declared a state of emergency due to the hostile campus climate towards the Black community, which makes up approximately 1.3 percent out of 20,000 undergraduates.
The BSU held a press conference following a protest and presented Chancellor Mary Anne Fox and other members of the Administration a list of 32 demands.
These demands included making African-American Studies a priority to the school (it is currently only offered as a minor) and matching funds to the Student Promoted Access Center for Education and Services (S.P.A.C.E.S.), a program created and run by undergrads to increase the yield of underrepresented students on-campus.
Since the event, there have been mixed reviews on whether or not the “Compton Cookout” rightly deserved the backlash it received. Many students have justified the party as being “satirical” rather than racist, arguing that political correctness has in essence made our society uptight and overly prone to deem a party like the Compton Cookout as racist.
One group of students took it upon themselves to form the Facebook group “UCSD Students are Outraged that People are Outraged about the Compton Cookout.” Many other students claimed that the BSU is “milking the situation” in order to administer their demands, which are seen as costly in the midst of already stifling budget cuts. Ironically, some black students have been vocal about their opposition to such demands, calling the list “unreasonable and demanding” given that the party was not a school-sponsored event.
However, Fnann Keflezighi, a third-year ethnic studies major and African-American studies and education double minor, said that people fail to understand that the issue at hand is more than just about the Compton Cookout, but rather a direct reflection of the campus climate for the Black Community at UCSD.
“This is a systematic issue that our school isn’t making people feel comfortable as they should,” said Keflezighi, who is also the Vice-Chair of the Black Student Union at UCSD.
This is crucial for the BSU, as they have actively been working over the past few years to understand why UCSD’s enrollment results in the lowest yield-rates of black students. In fall 2009, 50 black freshmen entered UCSD out of the 333 black students that were granted admission, compared to the 44 percent yield rate UCLA boasts from black students.
In response, last summer Keflezighi, in conjunction with the Black Student Unions of UCSD, UCI, UCLA, and UCSC, researched and developed the “Do U.C. Us?” campaign. The campaign consists of a compilation of testimonies from black students experiencing a hostile and toxic environment during their time at UCSD in an effort to gain insight on how to better yield Black students to their campus.
BSU and Keflezighi’s outrage over not only the Compton Cookout but the racial epithet that was broadcast on SR-TV (Student Run Television) is that by UCSD being labeled as a racist campus, the campaign and efforts to attract black students is undercut.
“They are angry at us for being angry,” Keflezighi said, “but to be one percent it’s a slap in the face when this happens.”
Keflezighi also argued that although the list of demands were presented to the administration the day after the “Koala” broadcast, they had been in existence for years, but rather edited and finished for the press conference after the second incident called them to declare a state of emergency.
“The same weekend of the Compton Cookout, BSU and [another organization] had brought over 400 high school students to our campus. What does an event like this say to them? That basically if you do come here, you will be unwelcome,” Keflezighi said.
UCSD’s administration has condemned the Compton Cookout, calling the event used to “celebrate” Black History Month “offensive and an [act] of discrimination.”
The Administration also took measures to host a teach-in to promote racial sensitivity on-campus this past Wednesday, Feb. 24. However, a majority of the students attending left the teach-in and held their own protest outdoors.
The SR-TV station and all other on-campus media publications have temporarily been suspended in light of the use of the “N”-word on Koala’s broadcast. The original perpetrators of the Compton Cookout have been investigated but thus far have not been disciplined, a lack of response Keflezighi was expecting from the administration.
“When I first saw the event, I saw that over 200 people had confirmed to this party. I was shocked and angry. They obviously knew that the party was wrong because they took down the event page on Facebook but had the party anyways. This is just a direct reflection of how we feel everyday,” Keflezighi said.
Despite the recent hurdles, Keflezighi and the rest of the BSU will be working for the remainder of the year to promote the Do U.C. Us? campaign and work towards promoting a healthier climate for black students on campus.
On Feb. 26 around midnight, a noose was discovered on the seventh floor of the Geisel Library at UCSD. An anonymous message was sent to The Guardian, UCSD’s student paper, saying more were to come.
A female student attending UCSD has admitted to being responsible for hanging the noose. The student has been suspended while the incident receives further investigation.
An official condemnation was released by UCSD’s Chancellor Fox regarding the noose incident.
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After reading your article and all the comments, the only thing I could say is I’m sorry for what’s been happening on your school.
@Aida: Thanks for the additional info and insight. I think it’s important for people to know that the BSU’s “Do UC Us?” campaign was initiated well before this ignition of racial tension on the UCSD campus. Also, there was a lot of finger pointing immediately after the masses found out about the “Compton Cookout,” and many people attributed the event to Jiggaboo Jones, so I’m glad that’s slowly been clearing up. Rock on!
Montana, I agree that all of these incidents are not isolated, but rather different examples of misconduct and ignorance stemming from a larger ideological issue.
Jenn– Thank you for your criticism! I can confirm that the Compton Cookout was NOT a PIKE sponsored event, but rather the guys that chose to throw the party on their own time are affiliated with the fraternity. Other guys who took party in throwing the Compton Cookout are also affiliated. I think you can only imagine how hard it would be (as a UCI student, and with the controversy of this issue) to track down one of the guys that threw this party to get his perspective. This “Jiggaboo Jones” character is just milking the situation for publicity and had no hand in planning the party.
As for the other side of the issue, the administration is currently working with the BSU and have already met some of their demands. They had been working with BSU since the initial incident –http://ucregentlive.wordpress.com/
I tried my best to present the “other side of the story” in a sense of citing that Facebook group and citing people’s comments from other news articles on their thoughts about the situation. However the point I was trying to convey was the hardwork the BSU has been putting on behind the scenes, before all of this controversy exploded onto their campus. The “Do UC Us?” campaign was constructed over last summer, so like Montana was trying to point out, these incidents are not isolated and random but rather expected coming from the point of view of the Black students at UCSD due to the already toxic climate they have been experiencing for years.
Journalistic problems with this article:
1. The name of UCSD’s Chancellor is misspelled.
2. The Compton Cookout was “thrown by several members of various fraternities.”
…Wasn’t it just PIKE and Jiggaboo Jones? If not, could you enlighten us on the specifics, or cite where you got this information? That’s a pretty broad description.
3. The only quotes you’re presenting are from Fnann Keflezighi, who is obviously on one extreme side of the issue. Keflezighi’s opinions overtake your angle on the article. What about the UCSD administration, or faculty, or staff, or students outside of the BSU? Or maybe from The Koala, or The Guardian? Lots of other takes are possible (and arguably necessary) in order to present a more balanced view.
I appreciate your inclusion of the mixed reviews concerning the BSU’s 32 demands and the Compton Cookout, though, and realize that there’s a lot to work with given the space you have.
(1) UCSD: A group of dumb white frat guys hold an event called a “Compton Cookout.” This pisses people off as it used Black History Month as a reason to mock black people with racist stereotypes. Also involved is some idiot who tries to use this opportunity for shameless self-promotion, who also happens to be black. To say the least, the guy is basically a wannabe Flavor Flav.
(2) UCSD: Another dumb white frat guy gets mad that blacks are offended of being relegated to a bigoted stereotype. He tries to hold another racist event.
(3) UCSD: Meanwhile, a terrible student media publication (which, after viewing their website consists of all white staff, nudity, staff wrestling each other, and well, not much else), pushes their limits calling black students “ungrateful n——” – not just that word, but also that apparently the black students owed them something. They have a reputation of being trashy, and at this point, administration and faculty rush to condemn racism by students of the campus and various protests begin. Funding is also cut from all student media at UCSD, creating an extra bitter controversy.
(4) UCSD: On Friday of that week, a noose is found in the library. Everything gets worked in a frenzy and – something I’ll address later – a large amount of white commenter’s on the internet begin claiming that is was probably a black student who planted it in order to gain more sympathy. In addition, there are rumors of a threatening note sent to the Guardian and a second noose, there was no second noose, and the threat seems to be just a rumor.
(6) UCSD: Protests basically happen at all schools in support of the students. There are various sit-ins, and teach-ins, and what have you. School administrators become pushed to be more active in fixing what’s going on.
I have not seen this noose person, but most of you blame her and conveniently forget wear this all originated. Dear Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush and Savage your chickens have come home to roost.