African American going through recruitment at Alabama?

[Low C Sharp]

very few AAs have rushed, so there's this big question mark, so AAs continue not to rush, which doesn't give NPCs the chance to prove the outcome.

I think it is important to add "Most of the NPC groups had exclusionary policies a few decades ago that barred Jews as well as non-whites. These chapters no longer have explicit policies, but they have not taken action to promote inclusion equivalent to the actions taken to ensure exclusion in the past." That's the context within which AA women choose not to rush. Diversity rarely, if ever, happens simply because you open a door that used to be closed. You need to give people reasons to walk through that door. Memories die hard, especially on a campus, and within a Greek system, that takes enormous pride in its long traditions.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

Those are good points about the challenges an out-of-state PNM faces at a big SEC school, but did I miss something? I don't remember seeing anything that would indicate the OP was OOS.

My assumption (and you know what happens to people who assume) would be that the OP is out of state. I would think that African Americans who live in Alabama are already intimately familiar with the state of diversity and inclusion there.

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

I think it is important to add "Most of the NPC groups had exclusionary policies a few decades ago that barred Jews as well as non-whites. These chapters no longer have explicit policies, but they have not taken action to promote inclusion equivalent to the actions taken to ensure exclusion in the past." That's the context within which AA women choose not to rush. Diversity rarely, if ever, happens simply because you open a door that used to be closed. You need to give people reasons to walk through that door. Memories die hard, especially on a campus, and within a Greek system, that takes enormous pride in its long traditions.

This is an excellent point, but I also wouldn't discount the appeal of the Divine Nine. Most people are going to gravitate to that which is familiar, and it is my opinion that the NPHC organizations do a much better job than NPC and NIC organizations of making themselves known beyond the collegiate population and community involvement across generations. YMMV.