I don't know - maybe she's not upset about sorority recruitment itself but the act of discrimination, especially if she had not experienced it to that degree prior to recruitment? I could see that sticking around for a while.

The article i posted started off talking about Melody, but further down it mentions that another African American female went through recruitment THIS YEAR and did not get a bid. I think the Melody part of it was just showing the history and pointing out that it's still an issue.

Right, but I don't know that it's HER issue to address, was my point. She can't be expected to just get over perceived systemic discrimination, particularly if there's still reason to believe that it actually was systemic discrimination.

Quote from the article:

Durham rushed to make friends but said she didn’t expect to pledge.

“I just wanted to make friends out of the experience,” Durham said, “which I did.”

Based on her own expectations she got what she wanted.



And I agree that Melody needs to let it go. If she found her own sorority and is running that, then she should have no problem getting over what happened to her over 10 years ago with NPC recruitment.

I think statistically speaking we don't know this.

I don't know the numbers for PNM going through NPC recruitment at Bama, and of that number how many are AfAm, but my guess is that over the past 10 - 11 years, not more than 5 per year, if that many.

I think that if 25 - 30 AfAm women went through NPC recruitment every year over the past 10 - 11 years, and they were just as qualified as any other PNM and did not get a bid then I would say yes, there is active discrimination based on the numbers. As it stands, we really can't tell if it is just the few AfAm women who go through and just don't get picked for whatever reason, or if it is truly discrimination.

That's why I said "perceived."

I know that some people said it wasn't Melody's race, it was her personality. The fact that she's still riding this horse 10 years later sort of proves that point.

As far as the girl who rushed this year, did she have recs? She should have known to have this in place before she rushed. Also, if a group wanted her to join and a rec could not be obtained for her, that is not wholly the fault of the current collegians. But from the sounds of it, she didn't want to pledge anyway. If she says that, I have to believe her.

When I read that article, I interpreted it not as that she didn't want to, but that she didn't expect to--meaning that she didn't feel that membership was owed to her. Maybe she suspected that it would end in the way she did. Maybe she kept an open mind, the way we always urge rushees to do. I'd imagine that she was still disappointed--otherwise, why would she come forward?

I'm still not sure why an African-American woman would pursue rush at a school like Bama. You'd have to know that the odds were stacked against you and, if you go public, you've also killed your chances at joining an NPHC chapter if you ever consider that route.

I got to wondering something since someone in the comments there mentioned the effect DG may have had on the recruitment statistics. Does anyone know if there were any AfAm women who participated in the Bama DG colony recruitment? Were there any AfAm women invited to join their colony?

I understand but is that really so different from saying you don't know why African-American women pursue rush at any school? Do outsiders really know the odds or are they just going based on appearances and assumptions? Also something to consider, with a relatively small percentage of nonwhites rushing at every school, what is the probability that the nonwhites will be among those who receive bids?

This can also be applied to nonBlacks and the NPHC, although the relatively few nonBlacks who pursue the NPHC are often doing so because they have been attending programs and their NPHC aspirations have somehow been encouraged just as some Blacks' aspirations have been encouraged. That tends to mean that there would have to be something about the aspirant's qualifications or personality that gets the aspirant rejected.

The article mentioned she had recs for some.

Just an aside: Alpha Delta Sigma is no longer active, according to their website.

Assorted editorials and blogs on this subject in the last few days, -- not focused on Melody, but rather on the (perceived or claimed) issues with the situation with NPC recruitment and chapter makeup,
most or all from papers/sites in Alabama (the state) or the U of Alabama:

http://blog.al.com/tuscaloosa/2011/0...akes_scho.html

http://blog.al.com/tuscaloosa/2011/0...hould_mak.html

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/20/race-rem...rsity-culture/

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/19/our-view...c-segregation/