text: The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:06 PM 
   
   Arizona State University expelled the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity Thursday night, just days after it held a party during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend depicting racial stereotypes. 
   
   The university said in a statement that it notified the fraternity that its recognition as a fraternity chapter at ASU has been permanently revoked for violating the university’s student code of conduct. Revoking recognition means the 65-year-old local chapter is no longer affiliated with ASU. The group won’t be listed on the university’s website and cannot recruit members or hold meetings on campus. 
   
   >> Read ASU's statement 
   
   ASU President Michael Crow said in the statement that the university’s student code of conduct establishes behavior standards. 
   
   “At ASU, students who violate these standards will be subject to disciplinary sanctions in order to promote their own personal development, to protect the university community, and to maintain order and stability on our campuses,” he said. 
   
   ASU said the fraternity violated four provisions of the conduct code: engaging in discriminatory activities, violating alcohol rules, violating the terms of earlier disciplinary sanctions and off-campus conduct that may present a risk or danger. 
   
   University officials are still investigating and deciding how to handle individual cases of student discipline. 
   
   National fraternity spokesman Alex Baker said in a statement that they had received the university’s findings and “we will be issuing the results of our own investigation shortly.” Representatives of the local chapter were unavailable for comment. 
   
   Over the holiday weekend, photos on social media depicted partygoers wearing stereotypical hip-hop clothes. The photos showed people wearing saggy pants and posing with hollowed-out watermelon cups. 
   
   The images drew a swift reaction from civil-rights leaders, who demanded that the university expel the fraternity. 
   
   At the time of the party, the fraternity was on university probation for a fight in November 2012, when police reports say fraternity members confronted a rival fraternity member, an African-American, and beat him up. He suffered a broken jaw, concussion and cuts. 
   
   The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a local civil-rights leader, said the university’s decision to cut ties with the fraternity meets the first of three demands. The civil-rights leaders also want students disciplined, and they want the university to take steps to create a “more accepting environment” for all students. 
   
   Maupin applauded university officials, saying, “They did the right thing to defend the legacy of Dr. King and to say to the nation and to the state, and everyone who is watching, that there is a zero-tolerance policy for racism and discrimination at Arizona State University.” 
   
   Civil-rights leaders threatened to boycott the university’s athletics and a fundraising campaign to rebuild Sun Devil Stadium unless their demands are met. The incident has drawn national publicity, with CNN’s Anderson Cooper featuring it on his “Ridiculist” segment, where he asked: “Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned toga party?” 
   
   This is the second time in less than a year that ASU has expelled a fraternity chapter. In June, ASU revoked recognition of Sigma Alpha Epsilon after a member nearly drank himself to death. Earlier that same school year, a pledge was found dead in the river. 
   
   ASU put the TKE fraternity on interim suspension on Monday after receiving reports that fraternity members hosted an unregistered event off campus with a racially insensitive theme and where underage alcohol was consumed. 
   
   TKE had a relatively clean record with the university until about 14 months ago. Documents obtained through a public-records request by The Arizona Republic show that the fraternity violated alcohol policy in the 2009-10 school year but stayed out of trouble the next two school years. 
   
   Then, in November 2012, a group of 20 or so fraternity members walked into an apartment complex where several members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity lived and attacked one of them. 
   
   The TKE members confronted an African-American fraternity member and punched him several times in the face, according to police reports. Two men later pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records. 
   
   ASU then put the fraternity on probation until May 17, 2014. The fraternity was not allowed to have parties as a condition of probation. 
   
   In a statement issued earlier this week, the national Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity apologized for “any offensive actions that a few of our members might have participated in.” 
   
   “Tau Kappa Epsilon does not condone or support any actions by its members that would be defined as racist, discriminatory and/or offensive,” the statement said. 
   
   Reach the reporter at anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com. ||||| TEMPE, AZ - Arizona State University permanently revoked its recognition of fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon on Thursday in the wake of TKE’s controversial Martin Luther King Day party, university officials say. 
   
   The university said that the party “encouraged a racially insensitive theme and created an environment conducive to underage consumption of alcohol.” 
   
   The unregistered, off-campus party involved students posing in basketball jerseys and flashing gang signs and drinking out of watermelon cups. They also posted photos on social media with the hashtag #blackoutformlk. 
   
   Revoking recognition means the 65-year-old local chapter is no longer affiliated with ASU, the group won't be listed on the university's website and it cannot recruit members or hold on-campus meetings. 
   
   
   
   The fraternity had previously been placed on probation in 2012 and was suspended immediately after the university became aware of the party on Monday. 
   
   Upon its initial suspension after the party, the university stated, “ASU has one of the most diverse student bodies of any major university in the country, and it is unfortunate that a few individuals held an offensive party at a time when ASU, the state and the nation were celebrating Dr. King’s achievements and legacy.” 
   
   University officials said they still are investigating the event and deciding how to handle individual cases of student discipline. 
   
   Alex Baker, a spokesman for the national fraternity organization, said Tau Kappa Epsilon has received the university's findings and planned to release the results of its own investigation shortly. 
   
   Baker previously said the group does not condone racist or discriminatory behavior. 
   
   The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, an Arizona civil rights activist, said the party antics were outrageous and offensive. He called for the school to expel all students involved and permanently ban the fraternity from affiliation with ASU. 
   
   Founded in 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill., the fraternity has about 257,000 members at 291 chapters and colonies across the United States and Canada, according to its website. 
   
   In 2012, the University of Arizona stripped its local chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon of recognition after an investigation showed multiple instances of dangerous hazing. 
   
   In a statement, ASU President Michael Crow quoted Martin Luther King, saying, “We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Crow said these values are reflected in ASU’s Student Code of Conduct, and any violations by students may result in disciplinary action.
target: – It's official: Arizona State University has given Tau Kappa Epsilon the boot, expelling the fraternity after it hosted a racist party last weekend—apparently to "commemorate" Martin Luther King Jr. Day. ASU says the frat violated at least four school rules—including engaging in discriminatory activities—and has permanently revoked the university's recognition of the 65-year-old local chapter, meaning the group won't be able to hold meetings or recruit members on campus, the Arizona Republic reports. In a statement per ABC15, ASU's president quoted MLK, saying, "We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education." According to local civil-rights leader, Rev. Jarrett Maupin, "They did the right thing to defend the legacy of Dr. King and to say to the nation and to the state, and everyone who is watching, that there is a zero-tolerance policy for racism and discrimination at Arizona State University." ASU says student cases are still being decided, while TKE's national head says its own investigation will be released "shortly."