Quote:
Originally posted by SoTrue1920
I find it sad that the brother in question feels like he has to hide his identity.. I wonder what that's all about. He's a pioneer and a trailblazer, and I for one would like to send him a letter of congratulations.
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I can understand where he is coming from...perhaps he just wants to be a brother of XYZ, not !!!TA-DA!!! The First African-American Brother of XYZ at UA!!! WOW!!!
Being the subject of newspaper headlines is not everyone's cup of tea. Look how much attention Melody Twilley has received...unfortunately a lot of it rather negative, I'm sure.
Think also how pledge/new member programs work - the goal is to shape these new people into full brothers or sisters of your fraternity/sorority. All the programs I've ever heard of involve a lot of activities for the pledge class as a whole - you want them to form a tight bond and
as a group be integrated into the personality of your chapter. This can be extremely difficult if one member is a celebrity or views themselves as "special." Think about the challenges your chapter may have faced with pledges who were star athletes at your college, legacies, or otherwise famous.
My assumption is that this young man simply really liked the brothers of XYZ, felt comfortable there, and decided to accept a bid...because he just wanted to be an XYZ,
not because he had a special mission to accomplish.
I hope I haven't offended anyone - I certainly don't mean to suggest that UA's Greek system should remain totally segregated or that progress like this isn't important. I just think that a lot of the time, we can accomplish more if we view each other as people first - judging on an individual's qualities, not their race. That certainly seems to be the way that this student approached Rush. I'm happy for him - being Greek, no matter what organization, has lifelong benefits, and I'm glad he was able to find a place to realize those benefits.
G8Ralphaxi
