STAFF REPORTERS
Racially charged language sparked a physical altercation last friday between members of the hip-hop band The Roots and the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
At a meeting held yesterday, Senior Associate Dean Robert M. Randolph said that ATO has been suspended by the administration pending a resolution of the conflict. Furthermore, two members of ATO have been suspended from the fraternity.
Under a preliminary agreement between the administration and ATO, the fraternity will undergo sensitivity training and sponsor a campus symposium on cultural diversity during orientation. Additionally, the Interfraternity Council will report the incident to the Cambridge License Commission.
The incident began early in the afternoon as an unregistered party was held on the roofdeck of the ATO house in Cambridge.
Sometime around 5 p.m., members of the band The Roots were escorted to the ATO house. At this time, a brother on the roofdeck shouted a comment to the members of the band. Upon hearing this, female performer known as Jaguar, or Jag, a guest performer with The Roots, proceeded to yell at the people on the roofdeck from the sidewalk. As the verbal argument continued, a member of the fraternity approached the edge of the deck and shouted an inflammatory comment to Jaguar.
An infuriated Jaguar then entered the house, grabbed a large spoon from the ATO kitchen, and ran up the stairs. She was closely followed by The Roots’ lead rapper, known as Black Thought. Upon reaching the roofdeck, Jaguar reportedly threatened those present, asking for the identity of whom she had heard. “She was very angry,” said Lorien M. Paulson ’02, who was on the roofdeck at the time. “She shouted at everyone on the roofdeck, particularly ones near the ledge.”
Soon thereafter, Black Thought appeared on the roofdeck, and more angry words were exchanged. Reports confirmed that the two groups traded curses.
Thereafter the situation quickly deteriorated into a physical scuffle as an ATO brother attempted to restrain the lead rapper of The Roots.
ATO President Erik M. Glover ’02 said, “The scuffle involved four people, two from ATO and two from the Roots. No punches were thrown whatsoever ... one member stepped forward to restrain a member from the Roots and they became locked up.”
The physical confrontation left an ATO brother with welt marks from Jaguar’s spoon and with Black Thought suffering a kick to the head. The fighting was broken up soon after it started. One member of The Roots and one member of ATO agreed to call 911. Emergency dispatch received the call at 5:57 p.m. The Cambridge emergency communications report states “there [are] weapons & 50 people involved,” though no weapons were actually involved. Officers from the Cambridge police department arrived within eight minutes of the 911 call, and MIT police were also on the scene.
The incident did not hinder the performance of the band that night. Though there were subtle references to the incident during some of the songs, The Roots still performed in front of a large crowd and even returned for a 30-minute encore.
The Roots’ manager, Tina Farris, termed the incident “really stupid.” Farris and other members of The Roots purported that more racial epithets were used during the scuffle, a charge which is contradicted by ATO’s account of the episode.
....just because these rappers are "conscious" don't mean they're some angels. Did y'all really think these guys weren't fukking groupies?.....
.......common has rapped many times about fukkin groupie bytches. Some of y'all sound lame as hell. "Oh my God the roots sleep with woman, such degenerates" 
