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“Cal Poly racist hicks” graffiti causes stir in San Luis Obispo

Posted at 10:49 PM, Apr 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-21 01:49:41-04

There’s been more fallout from the ongoing racial tensions at Cal Poly. Graffiti showed up on the train trestle over Monterey Street in north San Luis Obispo. Vandals spelled out "Cal Poly racist hicks" on the overcrossing.

Friday evening, the Interfraternity Council released an action plan. The plan would require all fraternities and sororities to revise their bylaws to include anti-discrimination language. Any chapter or member that violates the policy would be placed under immediate review. It would also add another leadership position within the organization that would be responsible for engaging cultural groups on campus.

The tension began earlier this month when a picture of Kyler Watkins with his face painted black at a Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity event was circulated on social media. He later penned a letter to the media apologizing for the incident. The event was the same weekend as Cal Poly’s PolyCultural event.

Students began calling for President Jeff Armstrong and other administrators to do more to improve the cultural climate and diversity on campus.

The students held several protests at Cal Poly’s Open House. Armstrong initially suspended the fraternity and, later, all Greek life after more pictures from other fraternities were posted on social media.

Earlier this week, Armstrong sent another sharply worded letter to the faculty, staff, and students promising to make changes on campus and aggressively investigate all racial incidents.

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