An alleged blackface incident took place over the weekend, but those involved say it could all be a misunderstanding.

Just after midnight on Saturday morning, the Department of Public Safety received a report that a student was wandering around Watson Residence Hall with his face painted a dark color, according to a Public Safety report.

The student is a new brother of Delta Tau Delta, said president of Delt Matt Sheaffer, a junior computer science and management major.

‘We were unable to find him at first,’ said Marlene Hall, director of Public Safety. She said that DPS officers received a second report and were then able to located the student and speak to him.

The student told officers that the face paint was camouflage – not blackface – and that he was actually on his way to rob a house, Hall said.

‘As far as we know, this was all a misunderstanding,’ Sheaffer said. ‘We are working with the university and (the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning).’

Even though the student claimed that he was going to attempt a burglary instead of dressing in blackface, DPS officers will continue to research both scenarios, Hall said.

‘We are still looking at it, investigating it and working with other departments on campus,’ Hall said. ‘So it could be looking at burglary, it could be other things as well that we would be looking at.’

Hall said that because Monday was Presidents’ Day and the event occurred over the weekend, DPS officers had not spoken with the necessary people about different types of legal possibilities.

As for the student’s explanation about the robbery, there was an anonymous tip called in earlier that day to a DPS hot line which confirmed there was a planned burglary, according to a Public Safety report.

Hall said that the hot line is only normally checked during business hours, but because the call was placed on Friday, the message was not received until after the student was stopped by Public Safety officers.

She said the house, which was reportedly planned to be burglarized, was vandalized.

‘The appropriate measures are being taken right now,’ Sheaffer said. ‘We are working with the university to figure out an appropriate punishment.’

Hall said that the student was cooperative with DPS, and his explanation for the incident would be investigated more closely.

Sheaffer said that a meeting with university officials is planned for this morning.

Published on February 16, 2004 at 12:00 pm