Panic ensued on a college campus last week when social media fueled rumors that a member of the Ku Klux Klan had been spotted. The man, as students later realized, wasn’t a Klan member, but rather Father Jude McPeak, an ordained priest from Evergreen, in line for frozen yogurt while wearing his habit.

Students from Indiana University took to Twitter to caution fellow students of a man “dressed in white robes” who was seen on campus “carrying a whip.” A university dorm resident advisor subsequently sent out a cautionary email to students in his building, and campus-wide chaos ensued.

While a mix-up between a Klansman and a priest seems unlikely, McPeak, who serves as the director of campus ministry at the Saint Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University, said he could understand the confusion.

“I’ve learned early on to kind of ignore things when I’m out, so when I was at Red Mango getting yogurt, I had no idea what was going on around the campus,” McPeak said. “A few times I’ve had people stop and ask, ‘what are you?’ Because it is a very different dress in terms of normal attire, I think people assume because they don’t know.”

McPeak said only by following a flurry of texts from students in his ministry did he realize the extent of the rumor. In the days following, he was overwhelmed by the flood of community support he received.

“When it really broke out, people were defending me and were very supportive. Now the main thing I’m trying to do is outreaching to the community explaining who Dominican friars are and clarify what’s going on,” McPeak said. “I understand why people could mistake us — we open our history books and we see Klans burning crosses in white robes.”

Father Luke Barder, a priest from the St. Dominic Catholic Parish in Denver and longtime friend of McPeak, said people often are confused by the robes, called habits, because they don’t expect to see them when they out doing day-to-day activities, such as getting frozen yogurt or visiting a brewery.

“It’s kind of a running joke when we get confused, because it is kind of out there. The habit isn’t seen much anymore even though we’ve been around for 800 years. People just don’t know what it is,” Barder said. “If you think of movies like Robin Hood, they wear a habit. Each religious group, or order, have habits that are traditionally theirs — the clothing marks their way of life. Dominican friars wear white, but if you see brown habits, they’re probably Franciscan friars.”

McPeak said not all reactions they get are bad, and often genuine confusion will open a dialogue to discuss their way of life.

“Dominican friars want to take on the idea of a monastic life while still staying active in the world. We want to stay in a place of prayer but engage in our day-to-day life,” McPeak said. “So I’ll typically wear my habit every day because I see it as being authentic to who I am in the order. When I don’t, it’s for something like convenience. I wouldn’t wear it to the gym or to do yard work, for example. That wouldn’t be convenient.”

Both Barder and McPeak said keeping a sense of humor often is how the friars react.

“We do kind of take it like a joke,” Barder said. “One time in Denver somebody started yelling at me assuming I was in the Klan. I just said, ‘no, I’m not that. They probably hate me just as much as you.’ It’s kind of a running joke.”

Natalie Munio: 303-954-1666, nmunio@denverpost.com or @nataliemunio