Students host 'check your privilege party' at U. of Washington

A group of students at the University of Washington held a “Check Your Privilege Party” near the school’s Greek row on Saturday.

According to the official Facebook page for the event, the purpose of the party was to embrace the “rebels and rejects of society” and “check the privilege” of those involved in Greek life.

While the group’s Facebook page indicated that over 1,200 people would attend, photos appear to show a few hundred people took part in the event, which was meant to help students who feel ostracized “take over and claim space on Greek row.” The party also called upon white, able-bodied, straight, and Christian students to “check their privilege” before speaking out on any of their own opinions.

The group’s Facebook page alleges that members of the Greek system at UW “have raped us and then called us sluts” and “have physically attacked black woman [sic]”.

“It’s a very unsafe environment if you’re a woman and it’s a very unsafe environment if you’re a person of color” said Palca Shibale, a member of the school’s Check Your Privilege Committee.

Shibale went on to assert that men in fraternities are three times more likely to commit rape than the average college student.

When one black student in a fraternity commented on the page asking if he was being marginalized even though he was a part of Greek life, Sarra Tekola, the group’s founder, responded “the black/minority tokens in frats don’t count.”

In a later post, Tekola went on to say “The Greek system has always been inherently exclusive...the pretty girls only, to the stairs that people in wheelchairs can’t go up.”

Another apparent student posted in support of the event saying “having a black friend means nothing. He’s most likely an Uncle Tom.”

Neither the University of Washington nor the event's leadership responded to a request for comment from Campus Reform.

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