‘Freak or Greek’ paperwork filed under student org’s name


Scheduling paperwork for an on-campus Halloween party Wednesday night was filed under the Black Student Assembly’s name, Undergraduate Student Government President Mikey Geragos confirmed to the Daily Trojan on Friday.

As more than 100 students waited in line for the party, gunshots were fired after a physical altercation between two males not affiliated with USC. The shots were fired about 100 yards from the costume party “Freak or Greek,” which was held in the Ronald Tutor Campus Center’s ballroom.

BSA is a student assembly in Program Board, which is under the purview of USG. Geragos also said internal paperwork for Program Board was filed under BSA’s name.

BSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Though BSA’s name appeared on the event information, Geragos said the organization’s name was not attached to any promotional materials.

“The paperwork for the event was filed under BSA’s name but I don’t believe any promotional materials had BSA’s name on it,” Geragos said during a phone interview Friday morning.

All organizations must fill out a scheduling form to book an on-campus venue.

USC’s Scheduling Office declined to release original paperwork for the event.

Geragos said he does not believe any event funding came out of student government.

“To my knowledge, I don’t believe any student activity fee went to fund the event,” Geragos said.

Geragos emphasized that BSA did not disobey any rule in planning the event.

“In no way do we, or should anyone, blame BSA for what happened,” Geragos said. “They followed all the rules.”

At least 500 attended the party, according to student reports.

The event was promoted by LA Hype through social media. Geragos said USG might consider new ways to evaluate third-party sponsorships.

“We are looking into a more streamlined approach … so we are aware of all the partnerships going on,” he said.

Sean Fitz-Gerald contributed to this report.

20 replies
  1. SCALUM & PARENT
    SCALUM & PARENT says:

    http://pics.lockerz.com/s/257817559

    Event flyer from SC Hype/LA Hype offers “FREE PARKING ENTRANCE on Jefferson & McClintock.

    As an alunmae and current tuition paying parent, we pay for parking on campus every time we visit. Looks like yet another exemption was approved further encouraging the public to attend.

    See interview with event promoter on Neon Tommy. He says “USC…and DPS were aware of his involvement from the start.” He also tweeted 2 days before the party saying, “private school = private security and own police department. I wish you would act up at USC on Halloween Night. You can be Rodney King #schype”. Read the article in full for his explanation.

    http://neontommy.tumblr.com/post/3484273259/usc-halloween-party-planner-critical-of-campus-police

  2. Jason
    Jason says:

    Ladies and gentlemen…lets make this really simple….LA HYPE needs to be sued and held responsible for what happened as well as NEVER….EVER….EVER allowed to promote or hold an event every again on the USC campus or its affiliates

    • usc student
      usc student says:

      agreed. imagine is a usc student had been seriously injured or even killed that night. You better believe they would have sued LA Hype AND the university- and would have probably won on both counts. I feel like just because luckily no usc students ended up directly involved, school officials are downplaying the incident. But if something does not change, and this happens again, USC will have a rude awakening.

  3. USC Senior
    USC Senior says:

    Honestly, it’s appalling to see all of the bigotry on these threads. Character is defined by your actions when no one is looking. I’m glad to see that you can post anything under the guise of the internet, but I would love to see you stand up for your opinions in-person.

    No one had this event with the intention of hurting anyone. It is really sad to see people using this as an excuse for venting their racial biases. “Those black people are so…” “It’s so hard not being a minority in America because…” I’m feel disgusted to know that I go to school with so many close-minded and racially prejudiced individuals.

    Check your facts before you make assumptions. Any student organization is allowed to have an event in the Campus Center, so there is no double-standard when it comes to room reservations. This means that any fraternity, sorority, or student organization is allowed to have a social event on-campus, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. Many organizations don’t have a venue for their events, so we must rely on university venues.

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuti of happiness.” – Declaration of Independence

    • Manny
      Manny says:

      Totally agree with you about the bigotry. There is no place for this at USC, let alone anywhere.

      However, BSA must answer for this as a failure to uphold campus policy with respect to the promoting organization. I don’t care what race they are – they organized it and thus are responsible for these events.

    • Manny
      Manny says:

      Totally agree with you about the bigotry. There is no place for this at USC, let alone anywhere.

      However, BSA must answer for this as a failure to uphold campus policy with respect to the promoting organization. I don’t care what race they are – they organized it and thus need to be held partly responsible for these events (the other responsibility belongs to the non-USC thug with the gun).

      • USC Senior
        USC Senior says:

        I think there are many questions to ask about responsibility:

        1. Where was the Department of Public Safety during the incident?
        2. If this event was sanctioned, why was there not sufficient security at the event?
        3. Why were 100 people allowed to be crowded in a confined area at the entrance of the event?

        I completely agree with you that the people responsible should be held accountable, but it has been less than 48 hours since the incident, so we should be hesitant to point fingers. I think that there is a miscommunication between what the media is saying and what was actually taking place at the event. Are we really going to trust the Daily Trojan as a credible source for such this event?

        Identification was being checked by DPS, so if they weren’t exercising protocol, it would be an oversight based on USC security. They were also performing pat-downs, so the individual would not have gotten into the party. USC is an open campus, so we can’t control who can get onto campus. We can only control who is allowed into events and these individuals were not allowed into the event, which is why it occurred outside of the party.

        In my opinion and based on the evidence that we have so far, the only way to have prevented this issue would have been to frisk everyone coming onto campus that night. This is an isolated incident and the only person who can really be blamed is the shooter.

        • usc student
          usc student says:

          no one is saying the BSA had intentions of hurting people, obviously. but a lack of oversight, not a lack of security, is the root of this problem. It does not matter that the shooters were not allowed into the party, they were lured there by the promoter and created an unsafe atmosphere for all usc students who regard campus to be the safest part of our community. Just because a USC student did not die, does not mean people should not have to answer for what happened. To quote the president- “University policy requires that any student parties on campus be open only to guests with student IDs from USC or another university”. This policy was not followed, specifically in the promotion of the party that touted- ANYONE could come as long as they paid. Had it been organized according to university guidelines, it COULD have been prevented. Again this is not about race, its about making sure this does not happen again. And by downplaying it and using race as a shield&weapon instead of focusing on facts, it will no longer be an isolated incident.

        • Manny
          Manny says:

          I agree about a possible disconnect, but I feel the Daily Trojan, often not a great source, is as good of a source as any this time, as it is in agreement with the LA Times and others. I’ll reserve judgment on the many blogs out there for now.

          My issue is the twitter evidence from LA Hype (as well as other networks) that broadcasted this event. Perhaps the assumption was made that it was public event just organized by the BSA. However, with the clear campus policy, this assumption should never have allowed to have been made. For that, I currently look with a watchful eye at the communication between the promoters at LA Hype and the BSA.

          This could have been prevented, even though, yes, it was an isolated incident. The reason is that an array of non-USC individuals from all over LA were placed in a confined space – that just spells trouble, not only at USC, but anywhere, especially nightclubs.

          Though it was isolated, with the fact that this occurred at RTCC and with the couple of incidents this past year, most notably the failed carjacking, this issue will become larger by association.

          I’m not Greek in any way, but their parties seem to be more under control, even with these promoters. There is a disconnect that must be sniffed out. I won’t take action yet personally, but the events currently seem to be linked back to BSA.

          • USC Senior
            USC Senior says:

            The only evidence of an organization not following USC guidelines is from LA Hype. Therefore, they are the ones who should be held accountable for the fact that people were being invited to the party who weren’t enrolled in college. I have seen no evidence that any other organization publicly announced that anyone could get into the party.

            I do believe that this is a race issue. People have walked up to my friends, fellow members of the Trojan Family, while they were going to class, and have made comments such as, “Just don’t shoot anybody, okay?” I think that this incident gives closeted racists some sick form of justification to release their racial biases. Just look at this thread, where someone actually wrote that people failed to “…put up the ‘No Gats’ sign…”

          • Manny
            Manny says:

            I sincerely am troubled by the amount of emphasis that has been unnecessarily placed on race here. If you look at it in a vacuum, it being a congregation of many diverse people from perhaps suspicious backgrounds (race is indeed independent – to assert a statistical correlation between race and crime, as many have done here, is a fundamental fallacy) in one spot (a la nightclubs), there is bound to be trouble. I myself am white and am disgusted by the racism on all of these threads, especially when the source seems to be a student or alumnus.

            Perhaps you’re right – maybe LA Hype violated policy on their own. If that’s the case, they should be sued and never allowed near our campus again. However, until everything comes out, no one should be left off the hook yet. When I say this, I’m not assuming guilt. What I am saying is maintain the investigation’s scope until proven otherwise.

        • Mc
          Mc says:

          DPS was on scene but looks like people were acting like fools before the shooting. They immediately responded and chased the gunman and requested help from LAPD. what people don’t mention is all the fist fights that broke out afterwards, it was a boot leg crowd.

  4. George
    George says:

    Obviously BSA failed to put up the “No Gats” sign where it could be clearly read.

    The real problem is the University’s double standard when it comes to black fraternities and the BSA. No fraternity on the Row would have been given the same ability to have a similar event with or without alcohol. This double standard has gone on for years. Maybe no longer…

    Let’s get back to getting gender neutral restrooms throughout campus before we allow any more ridiculous parties like this one!

  5. usc student
    usc student says:

    BSA did nothing wrong… when they sponsored a party without making sure the promoter was working under USC protocol?! Do organizations have NO responsibility for the events they put on??? Anyone who had a twitter could see the promoter inviting all of LA to this party. I hope every frat house that gets in trouble from non-usc sources use this example as a precedent to why they should not be held accountable.

    • Dan
      Dan says:

      No responsibility for BSA? Yeah, right. I blame them for not communicating with LA Hype about campus policy. It’s a clear policy regarding only allowing students and those with university ID’s. This got out of hand because BSA dropped the ball. This doesn’t abscond LA Hype from the responsibility of letting everyone know about it, but BSA doesn’t get off scot-free here – this should have been communicated.

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