Alabama's search for diversity sorority continues
 

Students seeking diverse sorority at UA explore options


01/28/03

TOM GORDON
News staff writer

Those involved in the multicultural sorority movement at the University of Alabama are exploring two options.

One group of women is looking at joining a national multicultural sorority, Delta Xi Phi. Some others are leaning toward starting their own sorority. Some male students took that second path a year and a half ago and founded UA's newest fraternity, Lambda Sigma Phi. A Christian-oriented organization, Lambda Sigma is UA's only otherwise white Greek group now with a black member.

Earlier this month, a Delta Xi Phi representative met with UA officials and students who were interested in forming a Delta Xi chapter. UA Dean of Students Tom Strong said as many as 10 women could be initiated into a UA chapter before the end of the current semester.

"The administration is very supportive of this," said Kelli Knox-Hall, assistant director of marketing and development at UA's Ferguson Student Center and an adviser to the multi-cultural minded women.

Founded in 1994, Delta Xi Phi has at least nine chapters at universities around the country, one of which is at Mississippi State University. Some members of the Mississippi State chapter have met with women at UA.

The UA movement to form a multicultural sorority has been under way for about a year. The students who were interested in the idea have called themselves The United Capstone Women.

Melody Twilley, a black honors student whose two unsuccessful efforts to pledge one of UA's traditionally white sororities made national news, is part of the movement. Twilley, from Camden, was among students who met with the Delta Xi Phi representative, but she said last week she plans to be part of a brand-new organization.

"Women from both groups (have) become sisters to me," said Twilley, who will graduate in May 2004. But she added: "Some of us were not comfortable with everything that Delta Xi Phi does. It wasn't quite structured enough for some of us."

On the fraternity front, Lambda Sigma Phi came off probation in December and became an officially recognized Greek group subject to the Interfraternity Council, which oversees all of UA's fraternities except the historically black ones.

Nathan Vaughn, Lambda Sigma's vice president for recruitment, said the fraternity has more than 30 members and expects to have a fall pledge class of about 20. The fraternity has one black member and had a black pledge for part of last year. The pledge left the fraternity to join another campus Christian organization, Vaughn said.

Vaughn also said the fraternity, which rents its house from the university, is talking about building its own house. Members of the chapter also have been meeting with students from Middle Tennessee State University who are interested in forming a Lambda Sigma chapter on their campus, he said.

Any Alabama Sister out there want to address this?
 

I would really like to hear it from the horses mouth why there aren't ANY black girls in NPC sororities at that school.

I'm probably going to get flamed for responding to this, but I hardly ever have time to visit this site anymore, so I might not even see the flames!

I think the reason that there are no African-American women in NPC sororities at UA is because none of them have ever gone through rush. Melody Twilley (as I have explained numerous times) went through rush as a JUNIOR. She was also RUDE to sisters in my house. And yes, I was there helping with rush as an advisor, so I witnessed her being rude. I don't care if a rushee is white, black, green or purple, if you're rude to people, you aren't going to get a bid. And, I'm sorry to say, but juniors are the first ones to be cut from rush at UA. They may get bids through spring informal rush, but in the fall they will be lucky to make it past ice water tea (15 party). Alabama has a competitive greek system. I can only speak for my house (and, according to our ritual, I can't give specifics about the voting process), but I can tell you that we gave Melody the same treatment and the same chance during the rush process that we gave other rushees. We even gave her an invitation to attend the second round of parties & allowed her to meet more sisters. She was rude to them, too. Plus, we cut all the other juniors who came through.
Another reason for this is that the NPHC sororities & fraternities are very, very strong at Alabama. There is a lot of pressure on African-American women to pledge NPHC sororities.
Jewish women, Asian women, Indian women, & Muslim women have all gone through rush at Alabama and have gotten bids to great houses. There have been several women who have black fathers or mothers who have gotten bids at UA. I think it's silly that there aren't any African-American women in NPC sororities, but unless a person goes through the rush process, she can't get a bid. Just like everybody else. Melody Twilley probably would have received a bid if she had rushed as a freshman and been polite.
Hope this answers your questions. I've posted on this topic a number of times on this board (I'm not sure if you can read my old posts, but you might be able to if you click on my profile...?). So, flame away at me, but that's my opinion.

(edited to add: Hoosier, you've posted a few times in the past with accusations about Alabama's greek system. Did you go to UA or have you been there? I am not sure why you are so interested in Alabama. Just curious...)

I won't flame at you. Actually, I was thinking about the same possibilities that you wrote. There are two sides to every story. I think that given Alabama'a intense racial history, a person on the outside would easily view Melody's situation as being racist. Just out of curosity, do you or anyone else know if she even tried to join an NPHC sorority?

It's not an accusation
 

It's not an accusation to post some news about UA.

I've been there. In fact, one day I was waiting for the DTD treas. to return to the house, but he never did - he and his girl friend (the house mother's daughter) and maybe even the housemother had been killed by a jealous ex-boy friend.

I even watched the recent movie about Bear Bryant and his football camp at TX A&M.

If memory serves, I believe that Twilley did not seek membership in any of the NPHC sororities at Alabama.

I'm sorry... I didn't mean that your post in this thread was accusational, but some of your previous posts have been and I wondered if you had some sort of Alabama connection/fascination.



Huh? I'm confused...



So did I. Not sure what this has to do with the topic, but it was an interesting movie.

:)

Thank you for clarifying
 

I agree that a person needs to actually rush to get a bid, and no matter the color of your skin, being rude is NOT going to get you anywhere. Thank you-I didn't know she was a junior either-that's always a hard thing too.

Hmmm, I went to school in southern Georgia. I went through formal rush. And I can tell you that the girls don't exactly act interested in you when you walk in the room and happen to be of a different race. Since I went through with an Asian and a biracial girl, I didn't think that I would get cut from anyone because 1) I have a great personality and 2) I knew girls in each sorority.
However, after the first night, me, the Asian girl, and the biracial girls got cut from all but two sororities. Neither of us knew why but neither of us got a bid. The biracial girl was going to try and go NPHC but this is how they were. . .once you go white, you can forget black.
On a despondent note, I do remember one girl in my group who went through the entire rush with her arms folded. . .bored look on her face at every party, and not even smiling. What a surprise when she got a bid!
I'm not bitter though because now that I am in a sorority and I have seen how the whole rush/voting/bid process goes. . .I have to admit. . .from a Greek's side, sorority rush is a bit discriminative.

I am not sure why it is so difficult for us all to admit that stereotypes, racial perceptions, and flat out prejudice might influence both sides of the recruiting debate as pertains to some schools in the South and everywhere.

These obviously contribute to unconscious selections factors when it comes to who sororities pick and who chooses to go through RUSH.

Just as some of the most popular groups might want to only pledge, well off, attractive, and somewhat connected girls, they may not want to pledge blacks . . . unconsciously lol.

And vice-vera, blacks may not want to join these groups for different reasons.

But regardless of why:

--Whether blacks are intimidated or don't desire to RUSH . . .

--Whether the sororities unconsciously (consciously) select against blacks or contextualy discourage them from RUSH . . .

The fact remains that there are no blacks in any sorority in a huge prestigious Greek System that is considered a stepping stone in life, at the large University of Alabama.

Interpret as you wish but this fact has been stipulated and so far not disputed.

The politcal correctness movement may not have changed people's minds about things, but it has made it nearly imposible to have a real discussion about what really goes on!

As a commentary: I am not sure its good or bad per se. I wouldn't care if each sorority house was identical to hair and eye color. But it makes for good discussion and thought if you look at it in context without being defensive.

(above comment is not meant towards anyone specific . . . yet.)

The Debate Goes On...
 

Hello everyone.


I am an African-American female attending The University of Alabama. I am also a part of the group of women truly committed to bringing a sense of multiculturalism to the greek system here at the UA.

Many of you have posted some very thought provoking questions and I wanted to weigh in my two cents. Some have asked why are NPC sororities here at the UA known as "traditionally white," when at other schools in other regions of the country, the same NPCs are intergrated. I wished the answer was simple. However, a possible answer can be found in the social, regional and cultural aspects of many African-American females.
As a little girl, I saw women who were Deltas and AkAs. I never once saw a Kappa Delta and said, "Wow... that's what I want to be when I grow up." Many African-American women simply don't want to join NPC groups because there is such a strong connection and attraction to the NPHC sororities. There is a definite culture surrounding these NPHC sororities. I've enjoyed attending step shows since I was in jr. high. I always wanted to be on stage doing just that. Stepping and other cultural aspects are missing from NPCs. This may explain why many African-American women simply chose to pledge a NPHC sorority. They (NPHC) are what we know and what we are comfortable with.
Another compelling arguement is that no one wants to be that token Negro in an all-white environment. If any black woman on this campus thought for a second that she had a snowball's chance in hell of actually getting into NPC and not having the n-word bounce like bullets; she would give it a chance. No one wants to feel like the odd person out.
Melody Twilley being the exception, there simply isn't an interest among African-American women on this campus to join any NPC. Please keep in mind this is not a blanket statement. This is not a stereotype. Just ask anyone. In fact, although she was horribly misqouted, Katherine Rutledge, former president of the Pan-hellenic Association on campus, reflected the same thoughts. She stated in an interview published in the Tuscaloosa News that out of all of the hundreds of letters/brochures issued out to ALL incoming freshmen women, only six African-American responded, stated interest. To say it again, the interest just isn't here...

However, this does not mean this is the way it should be. I argue the university can do little to change the hearts, minds, attitudes of not only the current members of the NPC sororities, but the alumni and those of the IFC. Am I calling these people racist? No I am not. However, I am saying a change has to come and one day, hopefully soon it will be.

A great step is creating a multicultural greek organization/council at the UA. This council can serve at the prototype and show the campus that there is a place for diversity at the school and it's okay to accept others.

Hoosier check your PM ;)

I, too, am under the impression that there just isn't much interest among black girls concerning NPC sororities. At my university we usually get a few Asian girls and a couple of Indian girls going through rush every year, but I have never seen any black girls come through. We got our first black member from COB, as a matter of fact, but most of the women that show any interest in our chapter are white. So in my school's case, I definitely don't think that the lack of black NPC chapter members is due to prejudice...I just don't think there's much interest. I suppose it's the same reason there aren't many white members in NPHC sororities, you know? It's all about where people feel most comfortable.

I hate the conversations about 'traditional' sorority issues. (I mean, who is white and who is black.) I argue that a house can change depending on who is in it. We had a sister my first year and she wanted to step. So what did we do for our Greek Week Talent. We stepped. (Yea imagine 30 women stepping, 3/4 white, and 1/2 from the mid-west) Some groups can handle this, some can't.
Our chapter wrote a letter to Melody when this info first came out in the Cronicle of Higher Education and she wrote us back a very nice letter.
I dunno what happened down in Alabama. But I think every group can be willing to change, but it depends on being able to find your home.

Tau Love
Lil E

College life in the South is truly different...

As an African-American member of a "traditional" national fraternity, all I can say is why would anyone want to be a part of a group that would not have them as a member???

I mean, I loved being a member of Phi Kappa Psi at Stanford, even though I was one of three African-Americans at the time I joined, and throughout my years as an undergraduate. Now, would I have joined if I had attended the University of Alabama for example??? Probably not. Do I consider the brothers at the University of Alabama my brothers??? Definitely! Now, whether or not they feel the same about me is not my concern. I swore the same oath of loyalty as they did, so I am just as much as a brother as they are. I really think that this is one of the great things about having national groups-each chapter is different and unique, and I always feel that I was so fortunate to be a part of a group of men that did not judge me based on the color of my skin, but by who I am as a person. My best friend in the whole world is my fraternity brother, one of the other African-Americans when I was in school, and the fact that we are both still involved as alumni says a lot about my group and what it means to me. Maybe sorority life is different than fraternity life, although my girlfriend while I was in school was an African-American, and a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. So, I hope that Melody finds a group that will accept her for who she is, and if not, well, college is only a few years out of her life, and being in a GLO does not have to define the "college experience" for anyone. And for those who say that rush is discriminatory, I truly feel that it is where you attend college. This is not to say that the more academically desirable or liberal schools are going to be less conscious of race when making their selection, but just from speaking about my experience in rushing at Stanford, I never felt that I needed to be in an GLO to validate my self worth. Maybe at large state universities those things matter because of the possibility of getting lost in the shuffle if you're not a part of something. Or hell, maybe it's just that some people can't feel good about themselves unless they make others feel worthless and unimportant. Whatever the reason, groups make their decision, and if the person is not wanted...MOVE ON!!!. :)