The California State University (CSU) San Marcos students along with a few staff and faculty members protested outside the Chancellor's Office, Thursday, after the university decided not to take any disciplinary action against the Alpha Chi Omega sorority group.
The sorority group is accused of posting pictures on Instagram of a party where they posed as 'Latina gang members' or 'Cholas' or 'Hoodlums' during their spring break.
Instead of imposing sanctions on the group, the university has promised to offer extra diversity and sensitivity training to all fraternities, sororities, student organizations and to incoming freshmen to prevent incidents of racism, hate and bias.
"They have no notion or understanding of the ramifications these pictures can create," said Margarita Uribe, a student at the university. "We don't feel safe. We feel a constant ridicule or mockery of our culture. We, as students, as Latina, Latino students, we hold a certain privilege that we're here on this campus, that we're able to have a higher education access, but the communities that we leave behind, they don't have the same kind of access that we do, so for us to see the mockery of certain cultures that we co-exist with on the daily, it triggers."
The pictures in question were pulled out immediately after they caused an uproar within the campus community. The photos showed women wearing flannel shirts and bandanas, and making ganglike gestures with their hands.
Even though the University President and the sorority president apologised for the incident, concerned group of students feel that it is not enough for the damage it has caused.
Alpha Chi Omega President Megan Koelln issued an apology, Tuesday, "We apologize from the bottom of our hearts. It was a mistake and a lack of education on our part."
Professor Sharon Elise, a lecturer who participated at the sit-in, believes that the students are moving in the right direction and that CSU should make efforts to listen to their concerns.
Alma Martinez, a sociology student found the photos to be disrespectful. During the protests, Martinez, who is of Latin American descent, urged the university to place the sorority on probation for one year, starting a Chicano Studies Program on campus and opening a La Raza Center.
"You can send an apology and the president can send out an apology, but what we want to see is there be action policies put into place and taken seriously," said Guzman.
