The student government at the University of California Irvine is considering a proposal to sanction a campus fraternity for its costumed FIJI Islander Party and force the group to change its nickname, reports the Daily Pilot. (photo from Fiji Islander 2013 event from Phi Gamma Delta Facebook page.)
According to the UC Irvine, just 28 students on campus identify as Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander.
The campus newspaper reports 10 students protested the party last week outside the house of UCI’s Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
Party-goers to the Islander Shipfaced event wore grass skirts, body paint and coconut bras, said Save Gasaiwai, a Fijian student at UCI.
“Our history is exemplified by the way we dress,” Gasaiwai said. “When you represent us using cultural stereotypes you’re dehumanizing us. We don’t appreciate being mocked.”
The controversy comes a year after the Asian American fraternity at UC Irvine Lambda Theta Delta had to apologize and suspend itself until fall 2014 for producing a video that included someone in blackface.
Phi Gamma Delta did not return the Daily Pilot‘s calls for comment.
