I remember reading about Melody Twilley sometime last year and the first thing that came to my mind was the similar struggles that my mother went through.
First of all, my mother is an Alpha Kappa Alpha woman. She pledged 60+ years ago. That being said, she is obviously up there in age. She'll be turning 89 next month.
My mother has experienced a great amount of racial struggles. When she first came to the Monterey, CA area over 45 years ago, she immediately faced a professional struggle as the first black professor at the college she worked for. She was a black woman, with an advanced masters degree...and 45 years ago, that wasn't an everyday thing. She worked at that college for over 30 years and each and every day was a knock down racial struggle because she was helping the black students succeed...and the white administration did not like it. She ended up retiring...by doctors orders...because of the severe stress she endured. However, despite all the racial struggles, she persevered!
There was also this little local white sorority here and I remember all of this SOOOO well. My mother didn't give a RATS A$$ about this group of women. However, she got wind to the fact that they did not accept black women into their organization. So, being the firecracker that she was, she decided that she needed to join it...just to "f" with them. These white women went bananas over my mother wanting to join their org. However, she met all of their qualifications and requirements...not accepting her would be BLATANT RACISM. So, she joined this org. (sidebar....I believe that because this was a local sorority, there was no conflict with her AKA affiliation) She held her head up and took care of her business.....JUST TO BREAK BARRIERS! First and foremost to my mother was always AKA...then the Links
So, I really feel for Melody Twilley. It's amazing to me that we still face this same racial adversity today. I don't know if Ms. Twilley really "wants" to be a part of a white sorority or if she's just trying to "break barriers" as my mother did.
Perhaps a D4 sorority is just "not for her".