Folks need to stop drinking HATER-ADE ('Bama)

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by PsychTau


(And I still don't understand how the whole thing could be "rigged"....did they coordinate who was going to invite her back to parties? How did they predict her choices anyway? Crazy, paranoid, bored people. )

My guess is that all the other sororities cut her. It wouldn't really be that surprising at Bama.

Basically the accusation being made is that "the Machine" promised to let Gamma Phi join if they accepted a black woman. The Machine is getting sick of everyone telling them how racist they are, so they decided to de-segregate the sorority system this year. However, none of the "top" chapters wanted to risk their reputations by bidding an African-American, so they wanted one of the not so prestigious sororities to do instead. They promised Gamma Phi entrance into the Machine as a bribe, which would theoretically raise their social standing on campus.

Now who knows how much of that is true. But the thing I think is hilarious is that if parts of it are true, and the Machine sororities are so worried about how their reps will suffer as a result of taking a black new member that they make a less prestigious chapter do it -- they're so worried about their reputation on the Bama campus that they are making themselves look like idiots to the rest of the world. Outside of the Bama Greek system, Gamma Phi comes off as the most enlightened and classy sorority of the bunch whereas the other groups come off like racist snots.

[White_Chocolate]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
whereas the other groups come off like racist snots.

this would be almost all of the school in the dead and beaten "confederacy"

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by White_Chocolate
this would be almost all of the school in the dead and beaten "confederacy"

Hahaha, uh oh.

Between you and me I think we're probably going to get this thread locked.

[33girl]

I would like to know when the accuser became an ex-member...before, during or after all this happened.

[GammaPhiBabe]

Carla is still a member of the pledge class. She and her pledge sisters will be initiated on October 16. We are very proud of her and we are thrilled to have her as a member. None...and allow me to repeat this... NONE of Ms. McGee's allegations are correct. She didn't even know how many people are on the executive board (here's a hint: it's not 10). The UA administration and Gamma Phi Beta Internationals are behind the chapter 100%. They are a wonderful group of young women and they should be applauded for their ability to rise above this poor excuse of a story.

[Jill1228]

Please cut the South bashing! EVERY part of the country has some azz-backward folks, not just the South. And the South is MY home!

Apparently she was NOT cut heavily from previous stories in the Crimson white

interesting comments below the story...thank goodness quite a few are positive

http://www.cw.ua.edu/vnews/display.v.../3f711d9f4d3b8

[GeekyPenguin]

Wow. I just saw this thread, and I am going to try my best to behave.

There is no way the chapter at Alabama would have used illegal voting procedures. Gamma Phi Beta is very strict on voting - my chapter is heavily "baby-sat" during membership selection and we don't even have formal recruitment. Alabama is one of our "name" chapters so I am sure they are supervised and follow everything to the letter even more than my chapter does.

I'm thrilled to hear from GammaPhiBabe that Carla is still a new member and will be initiated soon - and I'm proud of my sisters at Alabama for looking past race, which hasn't been a criteria for membership in a long long time.

I'm not going to even bother to say anymore because I'm sure this thread will get locked because I somehow came off as "disrespectful" to the South.

[sugar and spice]

I don't agree with the South bashing (subtly poking fun is more my style ) but you have to admit that there is a reason that this is going on in the South and not in New York, Wisconsin, Washington, wherever. It frustrates me that we're not allowed to discuss that aspect on GC because there are so many Southerners here who get offended even when the "bashing" doesn't take place.

The more we say "Oh, that's just the way it is in the South" the more we tacitly give our approval to it. We all know that there's something very wrong here, so why pretend like there isn't?

[texas*princess]

I think earlier in the Fall (or maybe it was in the summer?) there was an article in the Crimson White about sorority rush & integration @ Bama, (the link to the article was posted on GC) & I remember in the comments someone wrote something like "The Machine has decided to integrate sororities and so that will happen this year" (or something to that effect) It definately makes this whole situation more interesting ...

wow, that was just the longest run-on sentence ever!

eta: I also agree w/ sugar&spice. No one is bashing anyone, but she does have a point when she said something is going on because that happens in the "South" and not in other places. I don't get it?

[Jill1228]

True dat! We had a great thread in the rush forum about her bid day that was locked because folx got panties in a wad...

I don't want that to happen again.

Yes this is coming from a Southerner (who did NOT get her panties in a bunch)

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
I'm not going to even bother to say anymore because I'm sure this thread will get locked because I somehow came off as "disrespectful" to the South.

[Optimist Prime]

racism is much worse in the south than anywhere else

[DGMarie]

I'll post the article bec it is interesting. Did she not attend all rounds as is purported?


Sorority integration questioned
Former member alleges ulterior motives behind Gamma Phi Beta integration
By Megan Nichols
Senior Staff Reporter
September 24, 2003


Some say freshman Carla Ferguson broke barriers at the University when she accepted a bid to traditionally white sorority Gamma Phi Beta this summer. But a former sorority member said this week that members rigged the integration from the beginning to ensure the sorority a spot in the Machine.

Stephanie McGee said Gamma Phi Beta members had ulterior motives behind letting Ferguson into the sorority.

"I think a slot in the Machine was promised," McGee said. "They also just wanted to make the sorority look good, they wanted to make a good impression, they thought that they might start a new trend. It supposedly would also get us more parties and swaps and that kind of thing."

The Machine is a select coalition of traditionally white fraternities and sororities designed to influence campus politics.

After seeing what went on surrounding the admittance of Ferguson to her sorority, McGee said she decided to drop out of Gamma Phi Beta.

Contrary to normal procedure, McGee said, not all sorority members were allowed to vote on whether to accept Ferguson. Only the 10 members of the executive board participated in the voting process.

"That's the whole reason I quit," McGee said. "It doesn't bother me one bit that she's black. I mean, I'm not prejudiced or anything; it's just the whole manner in which the voting took place. The executive board made the decision, and she was going to be allowed in whether we wanted her or not."

McGee said several more sorority members, including an executive board member, left because of the situation.

Kara Thompson, who was the sorority's public relations executive, also left Gamma Phi Beta, but she declined to comment on her reasons.

McGee said another abnormality concerning the bid extended to Ferguson is that Ferguson did not attend all Rush events.

"She wasn't even there on Serious Night," she said. "Usually when a girl doesn't attend a party, you get dropped from the list, so I don't know how she even got a bid from our sorority. That's why I think it was just rigged by the people who wanted her there."

McGee said the sorority is seeing some negative effects from the unorthodox manner in which Ferguson was offered a bid.

"We even have alumni who knew about it and have decided not to support Gamma Phi Beta any more, and they're going to give their money to Georgia's chapter instead," she said.

Membership numbers have been down for Gamma Phi Beta for the past few years, McGee said.

The president and adviser of the sorority's UA chapter, citing international chapter rules regarding media, referred all questions to the chapter's international representatives.

Efforts to reach representatives of Gamma Phi Beta's international chapter for comment this week were unsuccessful.

[GeekyPenguin]

If you look at the comments on the article, some of which are just charming, you will see that she missed rounds with an excuse. Alabama uses SORush or whatever that's called where you get to pick and choose who you go back to. Maybe she regretted with interest and then came back, or maybe she had a previous obligation to attend to. Regardless of what her situation was, she is a Gamma Phi Beta, and I think the Panhellenic community needs to respect that. As for Ms. McGee, I'm glad that attitude is no longer a part of our Epsilon Lambda chapter.

[Jill1228]

Personally I think the girl is a bitter attention ho, who needs to stop drinking the Hater-ade!

As far as Ms. McGee no longer being there I say "good riddance". That type of tude brings orgs down. And if alumni don't want to donate then that is THEIR loss (not the chapter's loss)!

[adduncan]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
I don't agree with the South bashing (subtly poking fun is more my style ) but you have to admit that there is a reason that this is going on in the South and not in ... Wisconsin,

Another Agree to Disagree post......

Wisconsin is not pure as the driven snow when it comes to race issues.

Even your collegiate home town of Madison is 90-odd percent white with only a small percentage of minority folks, all of whom live in one itty bitty little segment of town. It's every bit as segregated as "The South" that you "subtly poke fun at".

But since Wisconsin doesn't have the same 19th century history that Alabama does, the press doesn't jump on it.

IMHO, it's a bad idea to assume racial divisions aren't "going on" in areas other than the deep south. Some areas are just better at hiding it.

Adrienne
(who visits Madison often with Mr. Adrienne, who got his masters in Ed Psych/Statistics at UW-Madison and saw the above scenario first-hand)