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Volume 136, Issue 15
Monday, October 8, 2018
Inside: • The Bredesen Center will host Senatorial candidates Phil Bredesen and Marsha Blackburn in their final debate Tuesday evening. Emily Lewellyn previews the event on page 2.
• Llamas raced and were dressed up in costumes for charity Saturday at World’s Fair Park. Staff writer Kurt Welch has all of the details on page 4. • Digital Producer Tara Halley was one of the first to see ‘First Man’ before it hits the big screen later this week. Read her review of Ryan Gosling’s newest film on page 6 .
• With a bye-week for Tennessee football, our sports team took a look at the upcoming basketball season. Sports Editor Blake Von Hagen and staff writer Cory Sanning take a peek into this year’s season on page 8.
Caitlyn Jordan / Contributor
Campus fraternity investigated for scavenger hunt targeting Asian students Gabriela Szymanowska Senior Staff Writer
A UT fraternity was recently under investigation by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS) for hazing incidents that involved taking pictures of Asian students. The incident was also reported to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life (OFSL). The hazing, dubbed by some students as the “Asian Scavenger Hunt,” required new recruits to approach Asian students and ask to take a photo of them, usually under the pretense that the picture was for a class project. While the duration of the scavenger hunt has yet to be confirmed, students such as Jonathan Thomas, senior in healthcare and community transformation in the Middle East through College Scholars, are confident that the hazing activity has been occurring for at least three years each fall semester since 2016. Thomas is one of the students who have been investigating the scavenger hunt and said that the fraternities engaging in it have switched each year. “I can’t tell you which frat it was, but it was not Sigma Nu (this year) like we thought,” Thomas said. “So I sort of investigated a little bit more
with our people that (it) seems pretty likely that (the fraternity responsible for the scavenger hunt) might have been Sigma Nu last year. ... People just thought it was a continuation of that, but the OFSL checked with (Sigma Nu) this year and they said they had nothing to do with it.” The Daily Beacon also reached out to the OFSL and the OSCCS to confirm the identity of the fraternity initiating the scavenger hunt this year but was met with similar responses. Maya Bian, junior in global health equity through the College Scholars program, also investigated the incidents after she was targeted her freshman year. “When I was a first year student and it happened specifically to me and my friend in the library, my friend got really heated about it and then we started pursuing about it because his Ignite team leader knew the Dean of Students at the time and knew someone involved in the fraternity that we were thinking it was because some students had heard them talking … and so his Ignite team leader reached out to someone in that fraternity and it seemed like it was going to be resolved there,” Bian said. According to Thomas, while the pictures usually have been taken with consent, an Asian student recently had their picture taken
without their consent. According to Tennessee State Law, it is not illegal to photograph someone unless the photograph is taken somewhere where the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a bathroom. While not raising legal concerns, the incidents have raised some questions about students’ rights and their safety on campus. “In the conversations I’ve had with students that have been affected or families that have been affected by this, that’s my primary concern is that we provide support to anyone who feels unsafe or threatened or that their sense of comfort in this university, knowing that they matter,” Kelly Phillips, director of OFSL, said. Kelly Rubin, associate dean of students, explained the different resources students have to report bias incidents, such as the 974HELP telephone line and an online incident reporting form at bias.utk. edu. “There’s a team of people who serve on the bias education response team. That includes members of UTPD, the dean of students office, multicultural student life, student disability services, Office of Equity and Diversity and someone from HR,” Rubin said. “And we review all of these incidents together and talk about recommendations on how to
improve education in the community, and we also offer direct support to the person who filed the incident report.” Amanda Samsel, associate director of student conduct and community standards, explained that Student Conduct launched an investigation into the allegations but declined to comment specific details, stating that in order to keep the integrity of the case intact, the office does not speak about ongoing cases. Samsel said that each incident that is reported has a pre-investigation occur, after which a written notice for an educational conference is sent out briefly describing the incident that was reported and a date, time and location for the conference. At the educational conference, the organization’s student representative can respond to the allegations and ask questions. Then the investigation takes place, which leads to a resolution. On Friday, Phillips confirmed that at this point in the investigation, no groups have been charged or found responsible and that updates on the investigation can be found on gogreek.utk.edu on the accountability and conduct page.
This story is continued on page 3.