Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby
If NPC chapters want more women of color, they should be encouraging more women of color to participate in recruitment. There are many, many, many ways this could be done. For example, the local alumnae panhellenics could reach out to high school affinity groups (black students union and so on) to include them in the pre-rush activities. You better believe, at the schools where recs are required, women of color are going to have a MUCH harder time finding them than do white women.
You should not assume that a single member of a group is authorized to speak for that entire group. That's pretty much the definition of tokenizing.
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This is an interesting topic! (I've read most of the previous threads covering this.) At my suburban high school (in a college town) the Black students had a high percentage of NPHC mentors and advisors. When I got to college, I had absolutely no familiarity with the NPC recruitment system. Myself, and many of my black classmates (10% of our school system) knew plenty about the NPHC organizations, through our teachers, mentors, coaches and (in a few cases) parents. I think since NPHC organizations do have very active Alumnae/Alumni groups, the students could actively identify who was in an organization. My mentor, a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, volunteered as a track coach at my junior high and was my history teacher in high school, She also started an auxiliary group, in which participants did service. My bball coach is a member of Phi Beta Sigma who also is a motivational speaker. The local undergrad Delta chapter coached the step team at our high school (they also did community service.) We were never "recruited." When I became a Delta my SGRho mentor got me gifts and we celebrated! We had more of a familiar knowledge of basic history/cultures of the NPHC, because we watched it in action. It would've been a tough crowd of AKA, Delta, Zeta and SGRho interests asking why NPC groups don't have stepshows! (I kid...kind of
.) You can only recruit the willing.
So with that, if NPC groups want "diversity," it takes a commitment to reach out to those who are not represented in their orgs. But I question how one could do so without looking like they just want these members to "diversify" their organizations. Or perhaps the concern should be less on recruitment and more on "inclusion" for those people of color who DO care to participate in NPC recruitment. (In regards to SEC schools, my midwest university has quite a few members of color in represented in NPC orgs, it's not a big deal to us, but we are a very liberal university.) Make sure that there is an opportunity for all interested ladies get a fair shot at all the houses on campus. I know that's easier said than done in many cases where Alumni control or personal biases can make equity difficult.
Just a few theories!
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