Minorities in 'white' frats/sororities
 

I am one of maybe four minorities in my house. I am also the only black girl and one of two black girls in NPC. It doens't really matter bc they love me ( the whole mutually chosen thing) and I pref-ed at really decent houses, so I don't wonder about discrimmination or anything. I just wonder if it's similar elsewhere with few minorities in your NPC/ IFC. I would like some non-heated, diplomatic, thoughtful speculations, as to why there are so few minorities and whether you personally believe there are biases on either side. Do minorities tend to stick to one particular house?


Chi Omega
Eta Delta

I know that there are minority women in other houses on campus, none in mine, then again we're only 17 members. .In my opinion, the fraternities are more diverse than the sororities. I don't really understand why more minority women aren't involved in Greek life here...i'd really like to see it change. Then again,they could be persuing NPHC membership, which I believe is handled by the Office of Ethnic Diversity rather than Greek life.

Out of our actives we have 3 whites, 3 blacks
(one straight out of africa), 1 India Indian, 1 Jew and 1 Latino

The rest of our IFC is fairly well mixed also

It is true that there are alot of whites in the NPC, but I think it's unfair to label us a strictly "white" sorority or fraternity. In conversations with other sorority girls (multicultural) they always say "white." It bothers because I feel that multicultural/latino/african american sororities promote the idea that we (NPC) wish to exclude minorities wish is totally not the case. In our chapter (small about 20) we have a vietnamese, korean, african american, indian and mexican all represented.

We've discussed this a few times on the board before, and I'm just going to warn you that it can be a touchy topic, so don't be surprised if it gets out of hand.

I think the main problem is two-fold: a lack of interest from many of the minorities to join, and a sense (justified in some cases, not justified in others) that they're not welcome. This is especially true of African-Americans -- because of the strong history of black Greek organizations, many blacks are raised to not even consider the historically white sororities and fraternities. Now with the proliferation of multicultural/Asian/Latino/Native American/whatever-based organizations, people of color have a lot more choices, and they may not want to join a group that they associate with being "white" (or that has the history of race-based discrimination that some of the NPC/NIC groups do). There are still tons of people out there that don't know that the historically white organizations TAKE people of color, which is ridiculous, but shows what stereotypes we're working against in this country. Also, there are a handful of campuses in this country where the Greek system still is extremely segregated, and these are the places that tend to get in the news quite a bit for the race issues -- and every time that we get another article saying, "Our sorority has never had a black girl in it" it's more enforcement for the stereotype.

There are alot of minorities in our fraternity's and sorority's. I guess I can't really say a lot...but there are a few in the sorority's and fraternity's. But here at Eastern we have a Black Greek Community too because the black people choose not to be in the same community as us. For years we have tried to get them to join us in Greek Week and other things we do...and they choose not too. And they choose not to let white people into their fraternity's and sorority's. We let them into our community. I mean trust me, my boyfriend is black and I would much rather do things with black people, but they choose not too. Some of them are coming around though, cause we have a sorority teaching my sorority how to step for our talent show for Greek Week this year.

So I definatly made this post thinking my name was signed in, but it wasn't, it was hers...and I didn't know it. Sorry about the confusion

Re: Minorities in 'white' frats/sororities
 

I think that's the key -- they like you...you like them. That's what it's all about. You're looking for a quality group...we're looking for a quality member.

I think sugar&spice said it right.. there are a ton of reasons why some schools are integrated and others are not.

I also have to agree with PiLove.

I think it depends on the area of the country you live in. Chapters of almost every Fraternity and Sorority represented in Canada are ethnically diverse, and don't seem to make a big deal out of it -- pretty much like the country itself. In areas where there is more tolerance for interracial friendships, chapters will be more diverse. In areas where the NPHC, NALFO, or MGC chapters are very strong, more women of color will gravitate to those chapters. In areas where NPHC/NALFO/MGC representation is rare or non-existent, you'll see more women join NPC.

Personally, I say get in where you fit in, and stop worrying about whether you're a minority in a predominately white sorority. You're a Chi Omega - that's what matters most.

Baylor has a really strong NPHC so I think that may be a reason why there has been a low number of African American women go through formal recruitment with NPC. I can remember 3 in the four years I was there.........one went ADPi, one went Chi O and one went KD. There were quite a few Hispanics and Asians in the "white" NPC sororities so I don't think that racism or anything like that was really an issue.

I hope this thread remains civil...


When I joined my chapter, we were 1/3 black, 1/3 white, 1/3 Asian and Hispanic (sorry to lump, just wanted to give an idea of the racial breakdown) About 8 women were from foreign countries and we represented 10 US States. That is pretty racially/ethniclly(sp?)/geographicly diverse for a chapter of 25 and at a liberal arts college in Wisconsin. Our campus had a pretty open culture regarding race and acceptance of diversity. The famous Greek event at Beloit, was the DG chapter initiating a black woman in the 1960s before national policy allowed, then chapter then lost their charter. (The whole story: http://www.beloit.edu/%7Etheta/home.html )

I guess what I'm getting at is that I think our organizations can take on the personality of the campus on which they are located. Beloit was accepting, so people crossed lines that they wouldn't have had they gone to a different school. Granted it may have mattered that AKA told a group they would not be willing to colonize on our campus. The choices were local or AST.

As for NIC/NPC groups, I think we all get just about the same consideration from minority rushees. However, there seems to be a real pressure with minority students (especially AA) to rush one of the NPHC groups -- especially if they live in the dorms. A gentleman that I was trying to recruit told me that if he went anywhere, it'd have to be to a 'black' fraternity or he'd basically be ostracized and that otherwise, he'd have been interested.

I just don't think that to my chapter, race is a big deal. We try to judge folks on what we think they bring to our chapter.

And although we have minority members, I don't keep a running tally as to who is what in my head, sorry.

Yeah, I think that's interesting that some do...

I feel like we have beat this horse beyond recognition. People seek membership where they feel comfortable, period. Don't worry about other people think about your membership, unless they are paying your dues,lol.

Same with my school. Our NPHC is really strong on campus with all 9 sororities and fraternities being represented. Therefore, I think most African Americans rushed the NPHC groups rather than the NPC/IFC groups. We had only a few African American girls in my chapter but it wasn't because of discrimination; there just was not many African American girls going through NPC recruitment. We do have a large number of Asian and Hispanic women going through NPC recruitment and we had many of those women in my chapter.

Sistermadly,

I would say that sororities and fraternities at UBC and U of T are very ethnically diverse, but I wouldn't say that for schools with a smaller minority population. I don't know about UBC, but U of T has a strong non-Canadian student body, but these students are unlikely to rush. The (overwhelming) majority of minority Greeks at U of T are Canadian born and raised.

As for other historically white organizations: I think it's a lack of awareness that is sometimes the problem. We were talking about strategies to diversify JLT (Junior League of Toronto) the other day. We have like 130 or so active members (small, I know), but only a handful are minorities.

I'm impressed by all the civil conversation and excellent points made in this thread. :)

Since joining GC and learning first about the NPHC (I had never heard of these organizations before) and then about the debates surrounding this very topic, I have often times felt bad that my chapter is not more "diverse". However, my campus lacks racial diversity of any sort - there are perhaps 10 African-American students, and a handful of Hispanic or Asian-American students. We just don't have a lot of racial diversity, period. This is by no means a fault or downfall of my school, just a fact. Hence, all of our Greek houses are lacking in traditional racial diversity - for the most part, we're just a bunch of "white kids". I would hope, however, that minority students who were interested in Greek life would feel comfortable and welcome at our recruitment and COB events.

Racial diversity within our chapter is not something which we have given much thought to, and I'm sure that if an African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American woman went through recruitment, we would give no pause to the color of her skin, but view her as we would any other PNM. One of our seniors who graduated last year was Mexican-American, and always joked about how she stuck out in our composite... However, I think the only reason she really stuck out is because she was drop-dead gorgeous. :)

Due to our campus' visible lack in racial diversity, our chapters strive to gain a membership that is as diverse as possible in other ways - students involved in different campus groups, with diverse interests and talents, who come from all different backgrounds. In my mind, this sort of diversity - and I would, without hesitation, say that our houses are more than diverse in this manner - is certainly as important as having a racially diverse house.

Hope my post doesn't offend anyone. :)

And my two cents on the actual question at hand (since my post is a bit of a hijack) is pretty much what everyone else has been saying. Humans nauturally gravitate toward their "comfort zone" and seek to belong to groups in which they feel most comfortable, and this rule certainly applies to selection of a GLO. If I were, say, an African-American woman, I could certainly see myself being attracted to an NPHC group or an multicultural GLO if that is where I felt the most comfortable.

where's that good idea icon at?

I didn't mean to beat a dead horse. :( As you can see I'm still learning how to use this thing. I tried searching for the topic bc I know how annoying it can be to see the same topic a million times, but I was unsuccessful.

Thanks for all of your perspectives. It's just a personal query of mine. I tried to make the point that I understand that it isn't hugely important in the scheme of things nowadays bc it's about where you're happy. Just wanted to reiterate that again.

I just feel, for me, Somethings are different and I don't always fit in culturally. But that's why diversity is good. We both learn something new. There's just a whole lot of 80s rock classics to learn :D

One of the best things about SDSU's system is that, along with the 15 cultural based GLOs, our IFC and Panhellenic, save a few houses, are extremely diverse.

However, some of the cultural groups have gone up to IFC and Panhellenic groups and asked them not to rush certain minorities so that they can be solicited to join the cultural groups. But we mostly ignore that and rush people we think will fit right for our houses.

I'm glad ya'll don't listen to them when they ask you that! That request is pretty ridiculous.

TheEpitome1920, I think I love you. :)

Awwww *hugs*

it may also just be a reflection of the make-up of your campus. if you go to a school with 3% minorities, then consider how many of them will go through a recruitment process...you are looking at a very small number.

I would love to see more diversity in our chapters. Whenever I have someone call or come by Greek Affairs about "Rush," I have no idea how to respond. How do I figure out if I tell them about Recruitment or Intake? Usually it works to ask if there is a chapter that they are interested in, but sometimes they say no and I am left trying to ask questions without unwittingly suggesting one or the other. The dean calls them Historically African American/Caucasian Sororities or Fraternities. Such a mouth-full. It also tends to have the potential member lean one way or the other. How to solve this? Suggestions?

You tell them about both. Explain what the NPC is, and explain what the NPHC is. You've given them information and haven't swayed them in either direction. Just don't do what the director of greek women did to me when I was in undergraduate school. :mad:

Co-sign. I go to a small school with maybe 5% minority students out of a population of around 4,000. How much does it really tell you then when you go to rush and see that there's barely any minorities in the sororities? Not much. There's just not that many here and a lot don't come to rush.

We've had instances were NPC women will tell women (both white and non-white) that our organizations are only for Black/Latino/Asian women. It's sad because they actually thought they were telling them the truth. I honestly don't see how anyone could believe that in this day and age. :rolleyes:

I'm probably repeating something that was said before, but I'm gonna through my 22 cents in anyway...

I grew up in a very diverse area, yet when I was growing up, I definately knew about NPHC sororities. Most NPHC'ers feel that membership and involvement is a lifelong commitment, and so I had teachers and mentors that were sorority members, and you knew it. So going to college I already knew about the 4 NPHC sororities, but I didn't know anything about NPC recruitment. Coming in as a freshman I would have totally missed out, cause I never got any information about it.

I think a lot of African Americans still gravitate towards NPHC orgs because of two reasons: our community service projects directly benefit our communities, and also because of the history of our organizations. I'm not saying that I can't do community service for other groups of people, but it gives me a sense of giving back when I help teenage mothers, or raise money for sickle cell, or donate money for grain grinders in Africa.

Overall, people gravitate towards what's good for them. For me, it happened to be a NPHC sorority. I personally have friends in NPC, NPHC, and multicultural sororities, and all of them are happy with the choice they made.

Our international philanthropy helps out Ethiopians and we're not black. But then again that's one of the reasons that all the ladies of every race and ethnicity love us. Mmmm mmmm here's to all the ladies. Ohhh yeah that's right. You, you and you. We love all of you.

Re: Minorities in 'white' frats/sororities
 

It's a lot more Diverse here at Cleveland State. Each Fraternity / Sorority has no more than one or more Minorities in each organizations. But while Our Greek Council / Department of Student Life continues to actively promote greek life and gain more members each semester ( Plus, having a Greek Affairs Advisor who is gung ho and cares about what's happening with the Greek Orgs.) , the overall atmosphere at school is still slow to check out what CSU's Greek System has to Offer, Regardless of Color.

Le sigh.

I go to Alabama, and my chapter fully integrated in 2003. We were the first NPC chapter on our campus to do so. If you have any questions, just PM me.

Rudey, it is nice that you love ladys. It is also nice You help Etheopians. That still does not answer the question.

I often wonder if color is such a big deal, then why do Blacks join non NPHC and Whites do join them?

Maybe it is because of the FEELING OF BROTHERHOOD/SISTERHOOD!:) That is between people only.

The only ones upset about this whole thing is those that want segregation, not as some of us who dont care! We like The Person only, Not The Color!

I am sure Garth understands that along with Rodney and Quiten who are My LXA Brothers at my Chapter..

I would just like to add to this that another problem could be the lack of diversity on the campus in general. It's very hard to have a diverse chapter if the school is not diverse. It's important to look at the big picture and start increasing diversity on campus before increasing diversity in the fraternity/sorority.

GMU is one of the most diverse schools in the country (we had #3 last year, this year I'm told we may actually be #1)

There are definitely concentrations of minorities in some of the historically white GLOs here though--in some cases they aren't minorities of the groups at all. Nobody really cares--but at least one fraternity is sometimes called the 'persian fraternity.'