Cornell fraternity gets shut down after racially charged attack
A Cornell University fraternity closed its chapter indefinitely after some of its members were allegedly involved in a racially-charged attack.
A Cornell University fraternity has closed its chapter at the school indefinitely after some of its members were allegedly involved in a racially-charged attack.
The fraternity, Psi Upsilon, had already been banned by Cornell in 2016 after a long series of complaints about violations of the school’s code of conduct, with the ban coming after the fraternity decided to host a party even though there was a suspension in place. The suspension had been put in place because of the fraternity president, who was accused of sexually assaulting someone at the frat house.
Then, on Friday, John P. A. Greenwood was identified as being part of a group that allegedly assaulted a Black student and hit him in the face after repeatedly calling him the N-word. He has since been charged with third-degree assault and second-degree aggravated harassment.
The victim, a junior at the school, claimed that he was hit by several white men after he asked them to leave when they were having an argument in the driveway near his residence.
On Wednesday, a group of over 300 marchers, led by Black Students United, climbed the stairs to Day Hall to hand a list of demands to University President Martha Pollack. According to the Cornell Sun, the demands included calls for the university to “work to increase the presence of Black students on campus, create an anti-racism institute, hire additional non-white mental health and medical personnel and require diversity training for employees and specific coursework for students.”
While the protesters acknowledge that the changes would happen over a period of years, they demanded that work begin on them immediately.
The protesters also called for Psi Upsilon to be permanently banned and for the frat house to be converted to a cultural center instead.
