Posted on 12/09/2003 8:12:36 PM PST by StopGlobalWhining
Penn State College Republicans chair Brian Battaglia issued an apology yesterday for offense taken at photographs posted last week on his Web site.
"While we stand staunchly behind our freedom to express ourselves in a lawful manner, after contemplation, we understand that the content of the Web site was offensive to members of our community," Battaglia said during a press conference yesterday in the HUB-Robeson Center.
Controversy arose last week after members of the Black Caucus found photographs on Battaglia's Web site taken at a Halloween party hosted at Battaglia's apartment.
The photographs showed a white man in blackface depicting Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Vice President Takkeem Morgan, an "oversodomized frat pledge," and made a reference to the Ku Klux Klan.
Battaglia said the organization's officers met with Vice President of Student Affairs Vicky Triponey Friday to discuss forming an open forum between the College Republicans, Black Caucus, Allies, USG and the Interfraternity Council.
Black Caucus held its own press conference at noon, at which members of the offended organizations responded to the situation.
In front of about 300 people, Black Caucus Vice President Anesha Ali said she would accept the College Republicans' apology through actions, not words.
"Apologies may come, and while resignations may come, institutional change on behalf of the university is the only acceptable outcome to this situation," she said.
Ali called the situation the first episode of its nature at University Park, but added it is not an isolated incident, referring to threats sent to Black Caucus officers in spring 2001 and this semester's highly publicized sexual assaults.
Among requests made yesterday were that all organizations add the university's anti-discrimination statement to their constitutions and a review of the College Republicans by the College Republican National Committee.
University spokesman Tysen Kendig said the apology is a "positive first step," but it only happened after the group was urged to do so by university officials.
Allies President Sara Ryan said she was concerned about the photographs depicting an "oversodomized frat pledge" because it is an insult to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied community at the university.
"This happened only a few weeks after anti-gay fliers were placed all over campus and on the Allies office door by the same group advertising their Conservative Coming Out Day," she said.
But the funniest statement in this entire article was the following:
Allies President Sara Ryan said she was concerned about the photographs depicting an "oversodomized frat pledge" because it is an insult to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied community at the university.
Are we to take from her quote that Sara Ryan supports oversodomizing fraternity pledges? Are their any homosexual activities that Sara Ryan opposes? Fisting? Think about it.
Previous FR threads on this subject from Friday and Monday respectively are available at:
Pictures lead to call for resignations [Penn State College Republicans]
and
Fallout continues from Web pictures [Penn State College Republicans]
Is that your standard for doing what is right, whether right has been done to you?
The haters of the conservative movement are an albatross. This would be an 80/20 country if not for the haters who turn off so many.
Brian had the courage, and I commend and support him for it.
Please tell us the single thing he did which upsets you the most.
Posting blackface photos while serving as the chairman of the Penn State College Republicans. This is totally inappropriate behavior for an officer of the party.
In addition to extinguishing his political future, he has destroyed his prospects for an executive career at many companies. What business is going to hire this guy when they search Google for "Brian Battaglia" and find this article, archived forever on Free Republic? No Fortune 500 company will touch him now.
This may be a stupid question but what's an "allied?"
Ok, Ok, I agree that the "Sorostitute" character was a bit over the edge. That one did go a bit too far.
But it was John McCain and Russ Feingold who are responsible for that one. Despite what the First Amendment says about "Congress shall make no law...", they went ahead and did it anyway.
Whether it was their original intent, or whether it was another example of the law of "Unintended Consequences", the so-called "Campaign Finance Reform" law has allowed multi-billionaire global government proponent George Soros to come in and purchase a highly influential number of shares in the Dimocrat Party.
But he did it legally, even though it violated the plain words of the Constitution, so therefore it was provocative of the College Republicans to make fun of poor Sorostitutes at Penn State.
Got that straight now?
Perhaps you would be more comfortable at Democratic Underground-like you, they think it's "racist" for white people to complain about racism and discrimination against whites
But guess what?-a lot of free speech is offensive, and students don't sign away their free speech rights when they enter college.
I'm sick of white students being singled out and persecuted for speech found to be not politically correct while non-white students are not only allowed to offend white students with impunity, but are congratulated for it by their professors
Apparently, you have no problem with such a double standard.
But I do.
If that upsets you so much, you are heartily invited to never respond to any of my posts in the future
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