I'd have to say, I'm extra glad to be a Gamma Phi today. I'm just sad it took so long.......

We were told nice too, but I didn't want to get the list going.......

I agree with you completely! Singling her out is just not in step with the Panhellenic spirit. I hope someone lets her know about GreekChat, so we can show her some real GC love!

But on the bright side, she isn't pulling a Melody Twilley and running to the media - she is off doing her thing with her new sisters! She's going to make a great Gamma Phi!

Anyone here go to 'Bama? Email her and tell her about GC!

She is an adorable young lady

Here is the article in the local paper (with picture)
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/p...308190343/1007

Thanks for posting that article. What a cute pic!

I REALLY hope she sticks with it. I hope that OTHER NPC Greek women welcome her. I hope NPHC women/men don't harass her. And I hope she doesn't become some sort of "Token" for ANYONE....May this be the start of race not be an issue AT ALL during recruitment!!!

Good luck Carla!!

DAYUMN! The papers in Alabama are all over this like white on rice (no pun intended)
http://www.annistonstar.com/news/200...es/19greek.jpg

Here is an article from Birmingham

Sorority opens door to integration
Gamma Phi Beta sets stage for fraternities
By JON GARGIS
SPECIAL TO THE POST-HERALD
TUSCALOOSA — The integration of the University of Alabama's traditionally white sorority system may positively affect the upcoming fraternity rush, one fraternity official said Monday.
University of Alabama Interfraternity Council President Brad Wilson said the acceptance of a black member into Gamma Phi Beta sorority sets a good example for fraternity rush, which is set for Sept. 3-4.

"The university has been working on it for a long time, and Panhellenic has gone beyond the call of recruitment, and we hope that we can follow in the same way," Wilson said.

"The door's been opened; it's opened for everybody."

On Monday, Carla Ferguson, a freshman from Tuscaloosa, became the first black woman to join a sorority in the traditionally white Panhellenic Association, which governs the school's fraternities and sororities.

Ferguson and the hundreds of women who received bids Monday had to pass three cuts during the weeklong rush period, which opened Aug. 12. Although Panhellenic's acceptance of a black member might help recruitment efforts of the Interfraternity Council, the fraternities should have an easier time with minority recruitment than the sororities, Wilson said.

"It'll be easier now, but we've also done it before with Lambda Sigma Phi," he said.

Lambda Sigma Phi, a Christian fraternity, accepted Calvin Johnson, a black student from Wetumpka, in 2001. The fraternity joined the Interfraternity Council soon thereafter.

Hours after Ferguson received her bid Monday, a press conference was held to report the results of fall sorority rush. Ferguson was not present at the event, which featured only Panhellenic President Heather Schacht and Wilson.

Schacht did not refer to Ferguson by name during the press conference, citing Ferguson's wish to remain private from the news media. However, she had revealed Ferguson's name to The Crimson White, the student newspaper of the university, earlier Monday.

"Everybody in the Greek system is excited about it (and) when she (Ferguson) put on her shirt, she had a smile across her face," Schacht said.

Last week, Schacht gave credit to the Student Government Association for helping recruitment efforts alongside the UA Greek organizations.

"This (the integration) was a step that needed to be taken," SGA President Katie Boyd said Monday. "We helped Heather by seeking young African-American girls, and let them know this opportunity was available to them. This is something we were behind, and we hope to continue to work on this issue for years to come. It doesn't need to stop here."

Schacht said 756 women, or 83 percent of those who fully participated in rush, pledged a sorority. Originally, 972 women had registered for rush, but some women voluntarily dropped out, Schacht said after the press conference.

At the press conference, Schacht said she hoped this year's integration was only the beginning.

"In all things in life, you've got to take a first step," she said. "We've taken that first step today. She's (Ferguson) a brave young woman for taking her first step. (Integration) is something that started today and we hope will continue."

Both Wilson and Schacht said they didn't believe a black member in Gamma Phi Beta would hurt the sorority's popularity on campus or with its fraternity counterparts when it comes to sorority-fraternity "swap" parties.

Most houses already have their party schedules set up, and most houses already have Gamma Phi Beta on their list, Wilson said.

Fraternities set their swap schedules in the spring, but Wilson said he hasn't spoken to every house to know if all fraternities scheduled a swap with Gamma Phi Beta.

oh wow, she is so beautiful and looks so happy. I am glad she foudn her home.

I'm glad she found a home. I'm also glad she decided not to take place in the media circus. I hope she follows it through to initiation, and doesn't listen to detractors -- on either side.

It shows a lot about her character that she's not taking any questions. Give her time, i wouldn't want to anwser any questions on one of the most happiest days of my life :D Let her enjoy her time with her new sisters.

Editorial in the Tuscaloosa paper

UA sorority pledges black student, breaks racial barrier
August 19, 2003


Gamma Phi Beta’s bid to Carla Ferguson broke a historic barrier on Monday, as the traditionally white Greek system at the University of Alabama knowingly accepted an African American into membership. It wasn’t drama on the scale of Vivian Malone walking through the door of Fosters Auditorium or as heroic as Rosa Parks sitting on a Montgomery bus, but it was an important milestone.

The fraternities and sororities at UA no longer can be called racially segregated. That is not to say they are racially integrated in any real sense. There remains a clear distinction between the traditionally white Greek system and a system of traditionally black Greek organizations. While there have been white members of black sororities, and a multi-ethnic sorority was founded last year outside the mainstream, this is the first time someone identified as black has been accepted into a mainline white Greek organization.

The record books may carry an asterisk by Ferguson’s name because a woman of mixed racial background stepped forward last year to say she had been accepted by a white sorority. That student, Christine Houston, had not initially identified herself as black.

All the caveats and qualifications aside, Monday’s announcement was historic. Ferguson has shown poise and composure through a sorority recruitment process that is stressful even for those not in the media spotlight. She has politely declined to speak with reporters. She has not made it a public crusade for racial justice. She has, from all appearances, made every attempt to fit in with her sorority sisters in a manner that will help the next African American who wishes to follow in her footsteps.

The UA Panhellenic Association deserves credit for delivering on a promise to do more to break the color barrier. UA President Robert Witt agreed to end an experiment with holding Rush after the start of classes, a break from tradition made by his predecessor Andrew Sorensen in hopes of getting more black students to join the Rush process. UA administrators put themselves in a more vulnerable position, trusting the Greek leaders would voluntarily fix the problem. That trust was rewarded.

The Panhellenic Association’s houses, particularly the fraternities, have an opportunity to build on the goodwill they have demonstrated by recruiting a more diverse membership. African Americans and other minorities should not simply be permitted membership; they should be welcomed.

The benefit of diversity for the fraternities and sororities goes hand in hand with the benefits to the new members they bring aboard. Society today is increasingly diverse. The ability to engage socially with people of differing backgrounds is an essential skill for success.

As the state’s Capstone of education, the university has a mission to connect all students to opportunities it creates. Students may choose to join a mainline fraternity or sorority, or they may remain independent. The important point is that opportunities for such a choice exist for all students

What amazes me about these traditionally-white greek systems is that don't they understand that they have brothers and sisters all over the country that are of other races? In my chapter alone, I have Jewish, Asian, Hispanic, a Muslim and in the past African American sisters and it is like this in every fraternity and sorority on the row. This is at a Greek system that is suppose to be one of the most superficial in the country and yet we have no problem or any biased distinction of a rushees race or religion. What are they good enough to be your sisters or brothers across the country but not in your own chapter? I applaud Carla but this should have happened a lot sooner and without so much media attention as if it was something that was so unimaginable in the year 2003.

Sorry for my vent but as someone who has lived in Southern California all her life and in a very liberal atomsphere, I hate to think it took so long to break down the color barriers within organizations that promote sisterhood and brotherhood!

Go Gamma Phi for taking the steps to abolish such ignorance!

Okay...and I'm spent! Got all of the frustration out!

I fully agree. I had two African American sisters and a number of women from Puerto Rico in my chapter when I pledged in 1988 (out of about 35-40 members) and it's no big deal to me.

I agree completely with the sentiment, but you have to realize that some of the issue is self-segregation. In a system where one or two black women going through NPC rush is a big number, it's not surprising that the system has less diversity than one where ten or twenty -- or fifty -- black women rush.

Hopefully this event is a catalyst for both (1) more NPC sorority women realizing that, like it or not, most of the rest of the world is more integrated than their sororities are, if that is the major issue at play here, and (2) for more women of color to realize that they can be accepted in the NPC system and deciding to try it out.