A group of students hope to bring other students, faculty and the Charleston community together to help thwart discrimination.

The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.-Ominicron Delta and the EIU Youth and College Division of NAACP are hosting a meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Coleman Auditorium.

The meeting, titled “Blue Alert: ‘Are We EIU?’” was organized after a shooting at the Penalty Box, 1419 4th St., on Jan. 26.

According to a press release sent by the Charleston Police Department, a large fight broke out at the Penalty Box.

Shots were fired during the fight.

Police arrested Dionte McWillis, an Eastern student, on charges of battery, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct.

The person who fired the shots remains under investigation.

Kristina Graves, a junior English major, said her sorority wanted to do something about what happened after the incident.

She said after the incident, the same press release was posted on CPD Facebook page.

Graves said there were more than a hundred comments on the Facebook post.

She said many of the comments were racially discriminating.

Graves recalled a post that said, “we need to take our neighborhood back and shoot these n****rs.”

She said many people see what others do and put blame on the whole black community in Charleston.

“It’s crazy the way we get treated,” Graves said.

Andrea Yarbrough, a senior English major, said in an email that she noticed the next day that all the comments had been removed.

She said there was no reason stated why all the comments were removed.

“As students at the university and members of this community, they should not have to be subjected to this type of racial discrimination,” Yarbrough said in an email. “Black students at EIU are constantly being harassed in this community, yet no one is speaking about it.”

Graves said discrimination on the campus and in Charleston is a problem that needs to be solved.

The meeting will include a panel of Eastern faculty and Charleston leaders.

Graves said President Bill Perry; Blair Lord, the provost and vice president for academic affairs; Dan Nadler, the vice president for student affairs; Mayor John Inyart; Council Member Larry Rennels; Council Member Jim Dunn; Council Member Jeff Lahr and Council Member Tim Newell were invited to attend the event and be a part of the panel discussion.

She said no one has confirmed they are participating in the panel as of Tuesday night.

Graves said they started planning the event on Sunday, so they did not have time to make sure anyone is confirmed.

“I’m hoping we have a big turnout of officials,” she said.

Graves said she does not expect to have a solution to racial discrimination in one night.

“I don’t want blame to be put on anybody,” she said. “It’s about addressing the problem and coming up with a way to fix it.”

Graves said she hopes people know how black students are depicted in the community.

Graves said on the small scale, she hopes the meeting has the ability to influence even one individual.

She said there is a possibility someone will go to the meeting, realize they were being discriminatory and change their ways.

“Our objective is to bring awareness to the portrayal of black students on and off campus and provide solutions to (combat) discrimination,” she said.

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].