Disclaimer: This is a breaking news story, and updates will be provided as they come. This story also contains mentions of blackface and racism. For more information, tune into the Rocky Mountain Review every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m.
Sept. 7, 3:30 p.m.
Lambda Chi Alpha, the fraternity accused of the blackface banner, has released a statement on their Instagram. The fraternity insists the images showing the Uncle Sam banner in what appears to be blackface did not represent the banner how they originally painted and hung up. The CSU fraternity stated on Instagram in a post “The circulating images taken of the recruitment banner are not representative of the banner that was painted.”
Members of the fraternity originally stated the banner had been rained on causing the darkening of the paint used for Uncle Sam along with lighting conditions. The fraternity wrote, “It appears that due to rain and backlighting, the banner as a whole took on an augmented hue.”
The fraternity apologized for the strain left on the CSU and Fort Collins community. They also expressed their support for diversity and inclusion within their fraternity and condemned racism in any form.
Sept. 6, 5:30 p.m.
Colorado State University has issued a statement regarding the incident. At 5:15 p.m. the university posted a message to the CSU community on social media. The university stated that they were aware of the incident and were “working to gather facts”.
“CSU takes this incident very seriously,” the university wrote. “Regardless of how this situation occurred, it has resulted in real harm and pain to our students, staff, and community. Students and members of the CSU community affected can seek support.”
The university also wrote that the facts were not clear yet and denounced racism in any form.
Sept. 6, 5:16 p.m.
KCSU interviewed an eyewitness, Corey Valentine, who was the student who first reported the incident. Valentine goes over their experience at the fraternity the night the banner was hung up in the above audio.
Sept. 6, 4:14 p.m.
A breaking news story coming out of a local fraternity associated with Colorado State University has been accused of blackface after a large recruitment banner hung up in front of the fraternity house showing racist imagery was seen early yesterday morning.
Lambda Chi Alpha hung a banner depicting Uncle Sam recruiting potential members to rush in the fall. Early yesterday morning at around 2 am a student noticed and reported the banner to CSU. The student then returned around 5 am to find the banner removed. The student also returned to the house later and was confronted by members of the fraternity. Footage of the confrontation can be found on CTV’s coverage of the story and the Rocky Mountain Collegian’s article. Several organizations on campus including United Men of Color, Africans United, and United Women of Color have begun to speak out against the banner shown and condemn Lambda Chi Alpha’s behavior. For the full story, listen to the breaking news report above the article.
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