A poster that appeared on campus inviting students to attend a Theta Nu Epsilon public meeting at the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house Monday at 8 p.m. brought out the Office of Greek Affairs and UAPD.
Monday evening, Kat Gillan, director of Greek Affairs, stood nearby the fraternity house and said nothing was going on there. Gillan said any further questions should be directed to Cathy Andreen, director of media relations.
Although a student crowd did not form, the creators of the posters UA Stands, who also organized the march on Sept. 19 called “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 2013,” were in attendance.
The poster stated free pizza and beer would be served while students learned about the organization Theta Nu Epsilon, otherwise known as “the Machine.”
“Rooted in tradition, membership offers unparalleled access to campus government, unique favor of the administration and distinct leadership training,” the poster read.
Henry Perkins, a member of UA Stands and senior majoring in New College, said the poster was a pointed political prank.
“It’s poking fun, but at the same time it’s making a very real point of this is our student government,” Perkins said. “These are the people who are pulling the strings. I mean not this house in particular, but they are certainly affiliated with it. And you know we kind of just wanted to raise awareness about what exactly was going on.”
Perkins said his group wanted other students to know the Machine does in fact have secret meetings.
“We tried to get some people to show up and show their support for their student leaders,” he said.
Perkins said they heard the meeting was supposed to be at Zeta Beta Tau at 8 p.m., but it probably got rescheduled after the poster appeared on campus.
“This was supposed to be the legitimate time and place, which is cool because you know it let them know that we know,” he said. “Now we’re playing a game.”
UA Stands does plan to engage in some sort of follow-up action, Perkins said.
“We’re restless. We’re having fun. There’s no reason for us to stop,” Perkins said. “If I were them, I would have gotten a bunch of beer and a bunch of pizza and just done it. That would have made them heroes.”
