In the numbing cold, roughly 30 students hoisted signs and chanted in unison against racism in a candlelight vigil in front of Kappa Sigma fraternity house last night.

The march, organized by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), intended to invoke an apology from a Kappa Sigma member accused of calling a MEChA member a "spic" in September.

"We want to shed light on racism," said MEChA president Tomas Martinez.

Most of the fraternity members stayed inside the house on 1423 East First Steet during the protest, watching silently from the vestibule.

Undaunted by the protest on his sidewalk, Kappa Sigma President Scott Jeffery said he planned to continue with plans for rush.

"It hasn't dampened our spirits," said Alex Alcantra, Kappa Sigma member and molecular and cellular biology senior.

"As far as diversity, I consider our house one of the most diverse, with a great minority makeup," Jeffery said.

The fraternity has a minority rate of 20 percent, said George Jenson, resident advisor, adding that the house stresses diversity in rush.

"Diversity helps us with community relations and with each other in preparing us for the future," Jeffery said.

But MEChA members thought otherwise.

"They might seem educated but they're still ignorant," said J. J. Rico, political science junior.

"It doesn't matter what they do, as long as we let people know we're not going to tolerate racism," Martinez said.

Dean of Students Melissa Vito was present at the protest and said she hoped members of each group would be able to sit down and discuss the issue.

"It really hurts to see this (protest) because they don't know us. If they did this wouldn't be happening," said Ryan Schneider, Kappa Sigma member and journalism senior.

The protest stems from an altercation at an intramural speed soccer game Sept. 21. During the game, a MEChA member accused a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity of calling him a "spic."

According to referee Jonathan Woods' incident report, players told him of an exchange of words between the MEChA team goalie and a Kappa Sigma team player.

Both referees at the game said in incident reports filed at the Intramural Office that they did not hear any racial slurs used during the game.

Mirum Washington-White, assistant director of recreational sports, said complaints of racial discrimination usually occur once a semester and "for the most involved a fraternity team."

The Intramural and Recreational Sports office follows a procedure if a team confesses to or is caught using derogatory statements, Washington-White said.

The offending team must forfeit the game and is put on a probationary period, he said.

The Kappa Sigma member has never admitted to using derogatory language during the game.

"As a fraternity, we don't condone racial slurs," Jenson said. "If it were true, we would have taken steps to punish them."

"It's a playground argument, not against the code of conduct," said George Jenson, Resident Advisor of the fraternity. "What we need to do is get the two people together and shake hands."

The tri-university student code of conduct includes no policy prohibiting hate speech.

While MEChA members are working with Vito on adding such a policy, Vito said the revision could take years since an agreement between the three Arizona universities must be reached.

Instead, Vito said she is working with MEChA members to see what they could do immediately to create a better campus climate.

"What we're missing is mutual respect and we're finding ways to bring some of that back into the community."