To guide the forum, “I’m not Paco,” Marilynn Chavez wrote a prompt on the white board at the Kansas University Office of Multicultural Affairs: “I feel this way … because …” A stream of frustrated and disappointed words followed.

Chavez is the president of the KU Hispanic American Leadership Organization, which came together with the executive team of the Rock Chalk Revue on Thursday evening for the forum.

At issue was the portrayal of Paco, a character in a preapproved skit the RCR performed at the Lied Center last week. The RCR is a student group registered with the KU Student Involvement & Leadership Center that has been hosting the fundraiser and variety show since 1949.

The incendiary character of Paco wore a mustache, a rainbow poncho and a sombrero. He mimicked a thick Spanish accent.

Mauricio Gomez Montoya, an OMA retention specialist who was born and raised in Mexico, was one of over a dozen people who got up at Thursday night’s forum to say how they felt.

“I am full-fledged Mexican — you can hear my accent,” Gomez Montoya told the crowd. “I have never worn a poncho in my life. I have never worn a sombrero. Don’t let these things be props.”

About 150 people attended the forum, which was hosted by HALO and the OMA. The room was only set up to accommodate about 50 people, so extra chairs were brought in, and many attendees had to stand. Frances Soto, like most who spoke at the forum, expressed her disappointment and said how the negative stereotype made her feel she didn’t belong.

“I feel like there is a lack of community, a lack of togetherness,” Soto said. “We need to stop making fun of each other.”

The skit that included the character Paco was presented by Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority. Joe Simmons, KU Interfraternity Council director of public relations, released a joint statement from the four greek councils Thursday morning.

In part, the statement reads: “(Paco) served as an egregious and offensive misrepresentation of the Latino community. This severe cultural insensitivity contributes to lack of understanding of our community as a whole. We understand those responsible have issued apologies, but it is still important to note while not intentional, the portrayal was hurtful. This behavior is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

The RCR raised an estimated $60,000 this year, officials said. A total of 3,355 tickets were purchased for showings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, said Nikki Koppers, revue promotions coordinator.

The money will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Dream Maker Fund through the KU Endowment. Before the forum began, Cameron Smith, this year’s executive producer of the RCR, addressed some of the HALO members.

“To have something that we feel is great for one sector of our community to cause so much hurt to another sector is something we feel really bad about,” he said.

The forum took its name from a Twitter hashtag students used to discuss the character after the show. The student-run executive team of RCR released a statement Tuesday via Twitter apologizing for “the offensive nature of one of the performances.” The statement went on to say that the character of Paco portrayed negative stereotypes and that in hindsight should not have been included in the show. HALO accepted the apology, also via Twitter.

After the forum, Smith said listening to members of HALO and other Latino students in person was an important part of the healing process.

“I think it was important to hear from the members outside of social media,” Smith said. “I’m hoping to start moving forward by educating cast members to be more culturally aware and prevent this from happening again.”

Smith said he plans to meet with members of HALO and the Multicultural Greek Council to come up with concrete solutions.

— Reporter Conrad Swanson contributed to this story.