Partying is a way of life for some college students. A few drinks and some good times with friends are often relaxing, and it gets people away from the everyday class scene.

It’s been reported by many media outlets partying on college campuses has gotten out of hand – with pictures being posted on Facebook of college students hosting themed parties on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or just having racial themes to their weekend parties. Parties like these have happened at some of the top universities in the nation – Clemson University, Johns Hopkins and Tarleton State University.

Posted pictures depict students dressed like black stereotypes – many of them have been called “gangsta parties.”

It would be an issue for a university to deal with if this was a single incident, but when it happens at multiple universities, it is an issue that should concern all college students, even us at Washburn.

While many of the students in the photos have said they did not mean harm, they aren’t aware of the message it sends. This was nothing but a racist action, and sends the message that these students considered this culture a joke, when it’s clearly not.

The only way people have found out about these parties are by the pictures posted on Facebook or other popular social Web sites like MySpace. Some of these universities have responded by investigating the situation to see if rules were broken, while others have held forums and town hall meetings to discuss the issue.

Some have said the “politically correct” trend has gotten out of hand, making jokes like having to say “vertically challenged” instead of short. However, it is unacceptable for students to have this kind of disregard for other cultures. If this continues, the United States is going to have a working class of people who have no respect for others and in the world of rapid globalization, where other cultures are getting closer to and integrating more into ours, it is important for citizens of this country to have the respect that isn’t being shown while dressing up like Aunt Jemima and drinking Kool-aid.

We hope this isn’t being ignored at Washburn, at a school so committed to its students and academic excellence. A commitment that could be under minded by poor choices on the part of the students.