University of Alabama Alpha Phi Expelled for Racist Video

[PGD-GRAD]

^^^VERY well said....

[OldFLDDD]

I am new to this site and with a daughter heading to college in the fall, so I'm just starting to get a feel for how things work these days WRT recruitment, and the pledge period (whatever that is called now). Back in my day (yes, you see I used the word "old" in my name), pledging was long and difficult. There were study halls, meetings, required pledge events, education, etc. A lot of these activities were fun, mind you, but still required whether you found them fun or not. You kept your grades up because you sure didn't want to have to wait to get initiated the following school year. It was a privilege to finally become a fully initiated sister after months of pledging. It was a very somber, very serious event. It sounds like now the whole process is so watered down that it's more like joining a club and paying your dues. This all makes me very sad to think that members potentially do not feel the same amount of sincerity in their sisterhood as they did years ago.

As far as the original post about this girl...how positively mortifying for her sorority. And I do agree that a longer "getting to know you" period would help to weed out some of the trash before they become initiated members!

[AZTheta]

I do not see this as a reflection on Alpha Phi, which is a stellar organization. It could easily have been your sorority, OldFlDDD, or mine, or honeychile's, or carnation's, or ... you get my drift. As I posted earlier, we all take turns in the hot seat. I actually see it as a reflection on all of Greek Life. We are lumped together, and we all suffer when something like this occurs.

Nor do I see this young woman (or any other troubling members) as trash. People, to me, are not trash. It is clear that "conduct unbecoming" applies here, and membership selection is not a perfect process. We don't have any crystal ball to consult to see who might be problematic (and how I wish we did!). My fellow alumnae who are advisors and have stayed active in their sororities over the years can attest to what I'm about to say. As an advisor for a large chapter, I kept in mind that a certain percentage of the group was going to have some sort of challenge which would impact the group. That might be too much drinking, eating disorders, depression, difficulty with time management, poor scholarship, too much time at the fraternities, and so on. Remember these are still undeveloped brains with questionable maturity. The influences of social media and the speed of life (the information superhighway) on their lives are nothing like what I went through (back when God was a baby). This young woman was extremely reckless (not to mention cruel, heartless, arrogant, foul-mouthed, and racist) and the consequences of her recklessness are going to be with her for a very long time. I'd like to think she feels ashamed, but I'm a pragmatist.

Personally, the shortened new member period is not at all to my liking. What NYCMS wrote expresses many of my thoughts. Direct observation reveals that the new members have little to no understanding of the tenets of membership. Ritual seems to be an odious obligation which is poorly implemented instead of being at the core of the sorority's functioning and purpose. Finally, my respect to Chi Omega for sticking to their guns and not initiating until after their new members have made grades.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Finally, my respect to Chi Omega for sticking to their guns and not initiating until after their new members have made grades.

I've always found it interesting that there was the one holdout and no other organizations thought, "Hey, it's still working for them." As far as I can tell, Chi Omega doesn't have any more or less risk management issues than the other NPC groups. And considering how many members and active chapters they have, that certainly counts a little extra, in my opinion.

I'd be curious to know what their retention rates look like before and after initiation and how they compare to other NPC orgs.

[NYCMS]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I've always found it interesting that there was the one holdout and no other organizations thought, "Hey, it's still working for them." As far as I can tell, Chi Omega doesn't have any more or less risk management issues than the other NPC groups. And considering how many members and active chapters they have, that certainly counts a little extra, in my opinion.

I'd be curious to know what their retention rates look like before and after initiation and how they compare to other NPC orgs.

Yes, hear, hear to Chi Omega. I knew there was one national organization that held out for 2nd semester initiation.

My pledgeship - and all the sororities on my campus - went from Bid Day in late August to early/mid-March, almost 7 months. I was in a large chapter but because of that amount of time, I knew every single member by the time I was initiated - not necessarily well, but I did know their name and a bit about them. That's what time enables!

[jolene]

A Chi Omega can correct me, but a friend's daughter went XO this fall and was initiated in the same semester though it was longer than the 6-8 week we normally see.

[celebcj]

Originally Posted by jolene

A Chi Omega can correct me, but a friend's daughter went XO this fall and was initiated in the same semester though it was longer than the 6-8 week we normally see.

I’m not a Chi O, but maybe they were on the quarter system?

[jolene]

Originally Posted by celebcj

I’m not a Chi O, but maybe they were on the quarter system?

No semester, but I could swear she got initiated right before school let out for winter break.

[NYCMS]

Originally Posted by jolene

A Chi Omega can correct me, but a friend's daughter went XO this fall and was initiated in the same semester though it was longer than the 6-8 week we normally see.

Maybe it varies by chapter. I'm not a Chi Omega either, but I'm pretty sure the Chi O chapter at Ole Miss waits until second semester to initiate their pledges. Seem to recall a friend's daughter at Ole Miss (in another house) mention this.

[APhi2KD]

An update:
Alpha Phi has reached out to its members explaining that Harley Barber was referred by a relative (a member at another chapter) who was horrified by her behavior and has personally apologized to the chapter.
It was also confirmed the other girls in the video were not members of AΦ.

[*winter*]

Sorry- it sorry- but the girl is trash, period. If we need social media training to tell people not to call other people the N word on social media, the world and/or our organizations are moving in the wrong direction. And it's not "this generation." I'm so tired of hearing that. If anything, this generation is the most diverse in history. But wht so I know? I grew up in a diverse neighborhood, so if I went around spouting off the N word, I would have had my teeth knocked out, if my mother didn't get to me first. Who the hell raises these people? And if her life is ruined...too bad. Black people work for HR, too, bitch.

[TLLK]

do not see this as a reflection on Alpha Phi, which is a stellar organization. It could easily have been your sorority, OldFlDDD, or mine, or honeychile's, or carnation's, or ... you get my drift. As I posted earlier, we all take turns in the hot seat. I actually see it as a reflection on all of Greek Life. We are lumped together, and we all suffer when something like this occurs.

Yes I agree that this could have been any NPC group. I feel very badly for Alpha Phi which has had to deal with back-to-back incidents.

Personally, the shortened new member period is not at all to my liking. What NYCMS wrote expresses many of my thoughts. Direct observation reveals that the new members have little to no understanding of the tenets of membership. Ritual seems to be an odious obligation which is poorly implemented instead of being at the core of the sorority's functioning and purpose. Finally, my respect to Chi Omega for sticking to their guns and not initiating until after their new members have made grades.

I also agree regarding the shortened member period. Making grades should be a top priority for any new member. At least with a semester long program, there was the opportunity to become better acquainted with a larger percentage of the actives as well as your own pledge class. Having listened to my chapter sisters accounts regarding their own daughters' new member period, IMO there is too much emphasis upon the gift giving and less on learning about the history and goals of our fraternity.

[NYCMS]

Originally Posted by TLLK

Having listened to my chapter sisters accounts regarding their own daughters' new member period, IMO there is too much emphasis upon the gift giving and less on learning about the history and goals of our fraternity.

There's also another trend I've heard of - not sure it's everywhere, but it is at some Greek-intensive SEC schools: Rush Gifts. Literally multiple times during the week. And not just little gifts, but really nice things. And for bid day? It's the norm to buy a Bid Day Basket. My knowledge is that they start at $100 and go upwards rather quickly. A friend's daughter went through rush last fall at Ole Miss and she spent a small fortune on these gifts. My friend - not from the South - was stunned to learn about them and said she felt like she "had to" buy the gifts since everyone was getting them.

Call me old fashioned, but this type of stuff just seems to coddle girls, as if they can't deal with the stress and frustration that is part of rush; even my friend said her daughter said "the gifts are a pick-me-up to get through the week". And it plays into the constant gift-giving the girls get once they've pledged, it's as if they need constant reassurance.

EDITED TO CLARIFY that the gifts are from the PARENTS, not from actives. Pick-me-up gifts to "keep going", it seems.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by NYCMS

There's also another trend I've heard of - not sure it's everywhere, but it is at some Greek-intensive SEC schools: Rush Gifts. Literally multiple times during the week. And not just little gifts, but really nice things. And for bid day? It's the norm to buy a Bid Day Basket. My knowledge is that they start at $100 and go upwards rather quickly. A friend's daughter went through rush last fall at Ole Miss and she spent a small fortune on these gifts. My friend - not from the South - was stunned to learn about them and said she felt like she "had to" buy the gifts since everyone was getting them.

Call me old fashioned, but this type of stuff just seems to coddle girls, as if they can't deal with the stress and frustration that is part of rush; even my friend said her daughter said "the gifts are a pick-me-up to get through the week". And it plays into the constant gift-giving the girls get once they've pledged, it's as if they need constant reassurance.

Ok, wait.. Rush Gifts? Are you saying potential members are receiving expensive gifts from initiated sisters during recruitment? If so, holy rush infraction, Batman!

[NYCMS]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Ok, wait.. Rush Gifts? Are you saying potential members are receiving expensive gifts from initiated sisters during recruitment? If so, holy rush infraction, Batman!

No...rush gifts from their parents. Sorry if that wasn't clear, but I thought it was since I explained what the PNM's mom told me (and other moms I know whose daughters have rushed at Ole Miss) about the stress of spending so much money on unnecessary gifts, including a pricy Bid Day Basket. I've since added an edit to clarify this.