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Tulane fraternity builds pro-Trump wall around house

7 years 11 months 2 weeks ago Wednesday, April 13 2016 Apr 13, 2016 April 13, 2016 4:20 PM April 13, 2016 in News
Source: USA Today College

NEW ORLEANS- A Tulane University fraternity constructed a wall of sandbags last Thursday with pro- Donald Trump statements spray painted.

The fraternity, Kappa Alpha Order chapter, built the wall in front of its house.

“Make America Great Again” and “Trump” were seen spray painted in red across the sandbags.

The fraternity said it was only meant as a joke, however the act has caused a stir among students.

According to a statement the chapter sent to USA Today College, the wall was built as a part of the school fraternity’s tradition to have pledges erect a barrier was meant to mock the Republican presidential candidate.

“Our chapter takes KA’s values of gentlemanly conduct very seriously. This respect extends to every student of Tulane and every member of the broader community. The comment was written on a makeshift wall on our private property, normally used for a game of capture the flag, to mock the ideologies of a political candidate. This had an unintended negative effect and as such it has been dismantled,” the statement read.

However, students of the university have taken to social media to express their anger.

“It’s one thing to see an endorsement of Trump on campus — that’s freedom of speech — but it’s another to see the wall when it’s a symbol of racism and oppression. As someone with family across the (Mexico-United States) border and knowing people are murdered at the border every day, for (KA) to treat it as a joke and try to justify their actions with satire — well, it’s not a joke to students of color,” freshman Khristyan Trejo, a member of student Latino organization GENTE, said.

Another Tulane student,  psychology major Dillon Perez, said the act was not a reflection of tradition, rather it was of hurtful separation.  

“By writing "TRUMP" and "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN" in large, red letters across their “wall,” KA changed what was a tradition of building a wall into a tradition of constructing a border, symbolizing separation and xenophobia. This issue not only affects Latinos but all other marginalized immigrant groups in this country,” Perez took to Facebook.

A Tulane University spokesperson emailed a statement to USA Today College saying: “Every spring the Kappa Alpha (KA) fraternity erects a wall around its chapter house, which is on private property. The leadership of KA’s local chapter says that adding Donald Trump’s name and slogan to this year’s wall was done in order to satirize the candidate’s campaign promise, not to show support for him. The wall has since been dismantled.”

It is not clear who took the wall down, however it was dismantled on Tuesday.

The fraternity’s web site cites Robert E. Lee, known for commanding the Confederate Army in the Civil War as its “spiritual founder.”

An official ban on its members wearing Confederate soldier uniforms to its traditional “Old South" ball was announced by the national fraternity chapter in 2010.

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