Forum Fixes Everything

Larson Waters ’11 never thought he’d be accused of being a racist. But that is exactly what his critics were calling him on Thursday, after he painted an offensive mural on the side of the Collis Café and signed it with his fraternity’s Greek letters, Phi Delta Alpha. The mural depicted a scene resembling slavery, which Waters insisted was merely a reference to his fraternity’s pledge term. He knew that he had to act fast to prevent Phi Delt’s sterling reputation from being tarnished. After talking to his parents on the phone that night, he came up with the idea of holding a forum.

“I wanted an original solution to a unique problem,” Waters said. “Something that would say that I really cared, while also solving the issue. And then I had the idea for a forum. It’s almost too good to be true.”

Critics around campus praised Waters for finding such an innovative way to spark and sustain an open dialogue on race issues on campus.

The forum, which will be held in the Collis Center on Thursday night, will feature on the panel 50% people who are typically victims of racism, and 50% people who are typically the racists. They will share their stories. After the forum, there will be a discussion on ways to prevent and treat racism on campus, such as talking about the Indian head symbol and throwing out the copy of the Dartmouth Review that gets put in front of your door.

After the forum, Phi Delt has promised to “take proactive steps to ensure that this isn’t just one forum. We’re going to be working as a brotherhood to help with this issue on campus.”

CORRECTION NOT APPENDED

The original version of this article stated that the issue at hand was racism, and that the fraternity was Phi Delta Alpha. It was brought to The Dunyun’s attention that the issue was actually homophobia and the fraternity was actually Theta Delta Chi. We were going to change it, but decided it didn’t make any difference.