Minorities in 'white' frats/sororities

[sambadoll]

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

[PhoenixAzul]

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.

[SirHornyToad]

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

[KSUViolet06]

I'm African American and I joined my sorority in the spring of 2004 (informal recruitment) as a sophomore. It was never a big deal to me. It was just a matter of me liking the women, the sorority itself, and feeling like Sigma was a place I could positively contribute to.

I think it's just a matter of "different strokes for different folks". It all depends on where you are happy and where you fit. The majority of my Greek friends of my race are NPHC but they don't give me flack about my choice. They actually hugged me when I found out I got a bid because they knew I'd found an organization I clicked with.

Currently I am the only African American in my chapter, but we have several alumnae who are. Other chapters on campus have women of different ethnicities in them, and I actually see a growing number of culturally diverse women becoming interested.

With regards to diversity, I'm also proud to say that I have a disability and that I was honestly at fisrt more concerned about that than my race. I never thought my race was a factor or issue.

anyway-In terms of other types of diversity, EVERY chapter on my campus just happens to have members of varying physical ability levels and think that is just as amazing as the racial diversity here.

[PiLove]

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.

[sugar and spice]

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.

[SigPhiSunshine]

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.

[SigmaNuPhi4Life]

Originally posted by SigPhiSunshine
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

[NutBrnHair]

Originally posted by sambadoll
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 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.

[texas*princess]

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.

[Sistermadly]

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.

[Little E]

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.

[Kevin]

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.

[TheEpitome1920]

Originally posted by ktsnake


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.