Dear campus community,
Building an inclusive, welcoming climate at SJSU demands sustained effort and contributions from all of us. And these efforts need to support the unique academic, cultural and socio-economic needs of a highly diverse student population and campus community.
On Tuesday afternoon, the university was notified about a photo circulating on social media that caused serious concern, hurt and anger. The picture suggests questionable behavior on the part of members of an SJSU fraternity that, if determined to be true, is deeply inappropriate and completely misaligned with the values of one of the nation’s most diverse universities. It also unfortunately misrepresents the many members of our Greek community who have committed themselves to leadership and service, and are currently focused on closing out the academic year.
An investigation of the fraternity’s activities is underway by the university. To be clear, this investigation does not include the political views being expressed in the photo. SJSU respects and affirms the free speech rights of our community. Rather, this investigation will fairly consider the facts and behavior of the students involved. It will also listen to their perspectives and evaluate the impact of this incident on the SJSU community.
Patrick K. Day
Vice President for Student Affairs