Perhaps it is exaggeration to say that this was censored. This column was rejected by the Huntsville Times editorial staff in October for (a) having unsupported facts and (b) being too “hard news”. I forwarded support for the factual assertions to the paper, but could not overcome the objection for being hard news. I believe that this is opinion, involving only a little bit of investigative work. You be the judge.
On Jun 11, 1963. Alabama Governor George Wallace fulfilled his campaign promise of “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” by standing in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to stop desegregation. He then promptly got out of the way and let the adults in attendance get on with registering the first black students at the University. That moment in history didn’t end segregation at the University. The basketball team was integrated in 1969; football followed in 1970. By the time I arrived on campus as a student in 1976 there was only one segregated area of student life – the Greek system. Fraternities and sororities were a powerful force on campus and for whatever reason they had not changed. In the decades since, news about the University’s Greek system seemed to have been only negative. We heard about embarrassing incidents evidencing disharmony, but little else. We’re now in a new century. Thirty-four years have passed since my time in Tuscaloosa. Has the Greek system changed?
First, the good news. The University has been working on the problem of a segregated system. There are now multicultural and Christian sororities and fraternities as an alternative to traditional organizations. New “traditional” Greek organizations have been organized that have been integrated since their founding. For all Greeks, the University offers a diversity lecture series, a Greek Leadership Summit consisting of the presidents of sororities and fraternities (to discuss and solve problems within the community) and a New Member Institute designed to improve the sense of community among Greeks.
The result is a system that has greater diversity now than it has ever had. It is a system that has all members working together for the betterment of the overall University community and I applaud the University’s efforts. Only one gauge of progress remained to be examined - the extent to which the traditional black and white sororities and fraternities have changed.
Why does it matter? There are now 57 sororities and fraternities at Alabama with over 6000 student members. The University has made over $36 million in loans available to fraternities and sororities for house construction. These houses are on University land, and the University has plans for the construction of four new sorority houses on campus in 2011. To oversee the system the University maintains a permanently staffed office of Greek affairs. Because of the University’s financial and organizational ties to the Greek system, I believe that UA implicitly endorses the operations of the sororities and fraternities on campus. If segregation still exists, it is state supported and financed.
After emailing 24 Greek organizations and reviewing public information on fraternity and sorority web pages as well as Corollas (the University’s annual) over the last decade, I found little evidence that the old line Greek organizations have made substantive and permanent changes in the makeup of their memberships. Except for better hairstyles in the more recent pictures most of the membership pictures could have come right out of the 1970’s. The University’s Greek diversity progress to date should now be extended to the entire Greek community. Fortunately, the University has the tools it needs to make this happen.
First, the University should make the lots for the four new sorority houses available to only those organizations that have integrated. This is a simple means to reward those sororities that have been willing to change. Second, the University should establish long range targets for improving diversity in those organizations that have not changed. And finally, the University should recognize that students have a right to associate with whomever they wish – but not with University support. Those Greek organizations that do not meet the targets established should be invited to leave campus.
Notes: Thank you to the University’s Office of Greek Affairs and its director, Gentry McCreary; the University’s Office of Media Relations Director Cathy Andreen and Zack Stillings, President of Sigma Pi on the UA campus. They help me to see the progress that has been made.
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