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Howard Pikes
I am new to this message board but was compelled to sign up when I saw the level of confusion regarding the topic in general. Hopefully I can shed some light on the situation.
I am a proud member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the KY chapter located at American University. Today at a Leadership/cultural development conference hosted by the NPHC organizations here on campus, we addressed this very issue.
However, the difference between that conversation and this forum was the presence of 2 members of the Howard Pike Colony.
First, I can not say how proud I am that my fraternity is the first IFC fraternity to attempt a colony at Howard. The men of Pi Kappa Alpha are supposed to embody the ideals of scholars, leaders, atheletes and gentlemen... and as far as I am concerned these men are just that. I look forward to the day where I can call them my brothers.
Unfortunately, the NPHC people who set the schedule for the event knew that they were there and only after the Howard guys left did they start to pull out the big guns. Only then did they have the nerve to call the fraternity rascist and those who chose to join at howard were "confused" and "lost".
This is sickening. Why is a prodominately white fraternity that chooses to colonize at Howard ANY different than a black fraternity that chooses to come to a school that was once unfriendly to blacks?
I would argue that Pike is a product of the time and place it was formed. It is foolish and naive to think that ANY greek organization formed in the south would not be segregated in 1868. Sorry, its a sad truth. The whites only clause was dropped in 1960, which is in line with many organizations of the same time period.
The people of the Howard colony understand that. They want a Pike chapter there because it is NOT a "historically white fraternity". They identify with the ideals of brotherhood that transgress any racial and religious lines. Anyone affiliated with a Greek organization knows that chapters each have their own distinct identity, and it is important to note that the chapters where Pike chapters have had problems had their charters removed. The national fraternity did not tolerate it, and as far as I am concerned they should not be at fault.
In conclusion, the way that the NPHC fraternity and sorority people portrayed the founding fathers at the Howard Chapter was wrong. I feel that these brave men are facing many of the same challenges that their own organizations had to deal with when trying to colonize at new schools. I think that their efforts are good for Pike, good for the diversity of Howard, and good for greek life in general. These men are not confused, they are just the only ones willing to put in the time and effort to take the next step in the evolution of Greek Life.
The NPHC chapter members at AU did not have the courage to challenge these men to their face and instead waited for them to leave before attacking what they were doing. To deny the students of a certain school the opportunity to become a Pike based on it being a black school is racist and I'm glad that Howard is allowing us to colonize. I challenge anyone to seek out some of the Howard Colony and talk to them... you might just realize that what they are trying to do isn't so bad.
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