race issues?

[OnePlus69Is70]

Alright, I have to ask this. At my school, there are four sets of Greeks- white/Jewish/Russian, black, Hispanic, and Asian. Never do the four meet together. Councils, socials, Greek Week, recruitment- it's all separated along those lines. My house is considered unusual, because we have two Jews, a Russian, and a Korean mixed in with the white guys.

There's no tension between the groups, it's just the way it is, and no one disturbs it on either side. The administration is horrified by it, because we're supposed to be a properly liberal, northeastern university, but no one heeds them. Someone tried to start a multi-cultural sorority last year, and there was no interest.

Does this happen anywhere else?

[KappaTarzan]

i looked at your profile and it looks like you to umass amherst... good school. i myself am a umass lowell girl... we don't have the racial segregation like you mentioned at all here... we all get along and have no exclusive racial groups, everyone is mixed well... also, you have a colony of sigma tau gamma starting up there, the Lowell (Epsilon Delta) chapter is helping them out.. they are GREAT guys, and maybe they'll shake stuff up. if they are anything like the ED chapter here they will

[Pinkgirl]

[COLOR=limegreen]I can identify with what u r saying. The problem is that "society" has a problem accepting the fact that races can "mix"and get along. "Race" is such a touchy subject...everyone wants their culture to b "respected" and "understood" (and that's ok) It's just a matter of letting go of selfish pride and preconceived notions about people that r different from u. Getting 2 know other cultures is good! It's what keeps us from being so bland!

[straightBOS]

When is it going to be okay to hang out with people that you actually like? Although it may seem that the only thing the groups have in common is their racial identity, that may not be the deciding factor. Especially, when you consider that most groups (rich, poor, middle-class, black, white, latino, etc... ) live near people more similar to themselves than not.

The administration at UMass Amherst has (IMHO) bigger problems than who is hanging out with whom. And, if the students are not disrespecting each other, intimidating students who are not like themselves, then I do not see a cause for alarm.

I have been to UMass several times and I have never felt that "selfish pride" has ever kept people from respecting each other. Could your organization truly be diverse if the races are different but the social-economic and residential factors are exactly alike for all members? That is a clearer indication of diversity than a head-count of minorities.

[OnePlus69Is70]

Hmmm, well straightBOS, I can say, since I actually go to UMass, that pride isn't a bad explanantion for some of what goes on. When pride means a genuine admiration for what your group is and does, there's nothing wrong with it. But when pride turns into exclusivity for its own sake, it's wrong. And I would place the blame for our situation on everyone's shoulders, including mine- no one reaches out to anyone on either side. Why is Greek Week just for the white kids? Why didn't it even occur to anyone to talk to the other councils? And why don't the other councils involve us? I have no problem with Greek organizations that officially represent a certain ethnicity, any more than I have a problem with organizations that just happen to mostly be of a certain sort for no reason, but I do have a problem when there's no interaction between the groups. It bothers me right down to my core. This is 2002, not 1952- we should all be Greek together.

I can say that socio-economic factors tend to not be an issue among Greeks, because the Greeks tend to be quite a cut above the rest of campus. My honest opinion is that fraternity costs are what keep the Greek system here so small. For the vast majority of students, if they had the money, they'd be at a different school. If you go through the parking lots of the Greek houses, you'll see cars worth a good $20,000 more on average than the cars in the residential and commuter lots. It's just the way it is. I can't testify to the exact conditions in every fraternity, but I can say it's the general trend.

The UMass administration should be plenty worried about situations like this- they advertise us as the most diverse, integrated school around, and the Greeks are making liars of them.

People are welcome to hang out with whom they like, but I'm allowed to ask questions about it. To get back to my original question, do the Greeks at your school split themselves up this way?