DOCUMENT: College, Stupid

Another Celebration Of Black Culture

UConn law student party featured gold teeth, do-rags, gang signs

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Another Celebration Of Black Culture

.JANUARY 25--Seems that questionable parties were not limited this month to a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration at a Texas college.

Turns out students at the University of Connecticut School of Law also opted for do-rags, gang signs, gold teeth, malt liquor, and a fake machine gun during an off-campus gathering last weekend, just days after the civil rights leader's January 15 birthday.

One future attorney even wore fake tiger claw tattoos on her chest, an apparent homage to the rapper Eve. As with the Texas party, photos from the Connecticut bash turned up on Facebook.com, where they were downloaded by a fellow classmate who was offended by the images (the pictures can be seen here).

The party, dubbed "Bullets & Bubbly" by organizers, has been criticized by many UConn students and led university officials to schedule a schoolwide roundtable today to discuss concerns about racial insensitivity. Party attendee Michael Nichols, a graduate student who sits on UConn's board of trustees, told the Hartford Courant that while the party was not meant to be "mean-spirited," he has since learned that "many of our friends and fellow students were hurt. For this I am truly sorry." Kurt Strasser, the law school's interim dean, told the Courant, "I hope the students will come to realize that pictures that are put on the Internet are likely to be available to potential employers, clients, and parents." (7 pages)