Back in February we told you about the growing trend of college parties themed around stereotypes of race or national origin. Even after all the media attention generated by parties at Santa Clara University here in California and another at a university in Texas, it seems that some schools still haven’t warned students of the consequences of such behavior, as it’s happened again, this time at the University of Delaware. According to DelawareOnline.com, the controversy was made public when participants at the “South of the Border”-themed Cinco de Mayo party leaked photos on Facebook.com which

…depicted students, some dressed as gardeners wearing work shirts with “Pedro” and “Jose” name tags, and a racist slur scrawled across the back. In formal apologies posted on La Raza’s Web site, students said they did not believe their costumes would be offensive, nor were they acting maliciously.

Other photos pictured a trio of the students in red, white and green shirts with the word “Mexico” on the front, and “Spicy,” “Full of Tequila” and “Hott” on the backs.

What this story doesn’t say is what the “racial slur” was. It was “Spic ‘n Span”. Nice.

CNN’s Paula Zahn reported on the incident on her show (watch the video), which featured the testimony of one of the participants. According to that report, the students have been suspended for one year. At least one of them showed her face at a community town hall meeting, and seemed genuinely sorry for (or maybe just embarrassed by) her actions. Others, as quoted in the Delaware Online article, say they were ignorant to the fact that their behavior could be offensive to anyone:

“In no way were these outfits, or these pictures meant to offend anyone,” said Jacqui Croteau, one of the participants, in a statement. “I did not fully understand, at the time these pictures were taken, how harmful the idea of dressing in this way could be to a community.”

I think at age 19 or 20 one should be able to “understand” the offensiveness of this, and if not, should be smart enough not to post the pictures online. No?

Via / DelawareOnline.com