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Inside: • Graduate student Erica Grant took home first place in the 2018 Vol Court Pitch Competition for her Quantum Lock pitch. Read more in Staff Writer Taylor Moore’s story on page 2. • A high school student and UT graduate have teamed up to open Thrift or Dare, a completely social media driven business. Staff Writer Natalia Capella dives into the business on page 3. • I bet you love coffee as much as Van Voor does. Check out her latest cartoon on page 5. • The odds of the UT mens basketball team winning the NCAA tournament have continued to drop. Check out the latest odds report by Sports Editor Blake Von Hagen on page 8.
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Volume 136, Issue 30
Thursday, November 29, 2018
An investigation into an Asian Scavenger Hunt ended earlier this month. Random Asian American students were approached on campus and asked to take a picture, which happened whether they agreed or not. Kylie Hubbard / The Daily Beacon
Investigation closes Asian scavenger hunt, community moves forward Cat Trieu
Campus News Editor
Kylie Hubbard
Editor-in-Chief
The investigation into hazing incidents against Asian American students has concluded. The hazing, dubbed by some students as the “Asian Scavenger Hunt,” required fraternity members to approach Asian students and ask to take a photo of them, usually under the pretense that the picture was for a class project. According to a report from the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (SCCS), the activity was known to have started as early as fall 2016. After some investigation, members of the Asian American Association (AAA) and the Asian American Intervarsity (AAIV) found the men were members of Delta Tau Delta (DTD). Shortly after, the Dean of Students became involved after the event was reported as a bias incident. It discovered that members of DTD have a scavenger hunt in which some male students took pictures with Asian American students on campus for points; the fraternity issued an apology letter. In fall 2017, a similar incident was once again reported, when male students who were believed to be a part of
a Greek life organization asked Asian students to take their pictures. It was reported as a bias incident to the Office of the Dean of Students, who then notified SCCS about the fall 2016 and recent incidents. SCCS investigated DTD for hazing, but found no evidence to indicate that any of the fraternity members were continuing the practice. AAA and AAIV members shared with SCCS that they believed another fraternity was organizing the scavenger hunt. At the time, SCCS was unable to determine which fraternity participated in the activity and no individual names were ever shared with SCCS. After the events were made known to the offices of the Dean of Students and SCCS, fraternities Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Nu were identified as “possibly being responsible” by SCCS for the incident. During the hazing investigation, the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life (OSFL) was asked by SCCS to address the “inappropriateness of activity” and directed them “to stop any activity like this,” according to the report. SCCS determined that the individuals who were involved with the incident were new members of Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), not Pi Kappa Alpha or Sigma Nu. According to the report, a member of ATO thought it would be “‘funny’” to tell new members of the fraternity in a GroupMe message to take selfies with Asian people, which the new members thought was required and proceeded to
ask Asian people for photos with them. ATO leadership was not included in the GroupMe messages and, upon discovering the activity, told the new members to stop and not participate and disciplined the individual responsible for starting the activity, according to SCCS. ATO’s actions had occurred before they alerted SCCS of the incidents. SCCS went on to discipline the individual responsible and concluded that no Chapter endorsed or supported the activity that the individual started. Faculty, students targets for scavenger hunt In fall 2018, Wellness Coordinator of Alcohol and Other Drugs of the Center for Health Education and Wellness (CHEW) Rebecca Juarez and several Asian American students were approached and asked by men believed to be members of a Greek life organization to take “‘selfies’” with them. SCCS reported that the incidents happened on the same day but with different people and in different locations. Juarez was on Pedestrian Walkway setting up for CHEW’s annual Yoga Fest when she was approached. “For me, this was a bit like being on display at a zoo or something,” Juarez said about her experience. “The thing I worried about in the aftermath was, for what purpose were these photos being used?” According to a document received by the Daily Beacon as part of a FOIA request, a student sent in a bias report
to Associate Dean of Students Kelly Rubin on Oct. 8 of an incident that they reported happened to them on Sept. 19 in a university dining hall. The student was asked to take a photo for an acquaintance’s geography class because they were Asian American and they “complied because I believed that it was for an assignment.” The student gave Rubin the person’s name and year. “I believe he is a pledge for Alpha Tau Omega and is participating in the ‘Asian Scavenger Hunt,’” the student said in the email to Rubin. A student who identifies as Asian reported being filmed by a few students on their phone to Kelly Phillips, director of OSFL, according to a document sent to the Daily Beacon by a FOIA request. Phillips said that the student described the male students as “‘three men in t-shirts sitting behind a fence and using their phones to record her’” but could not confirm that the three male students were fraternity members. 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.
Story continued on page 2.