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Following the police killing of George Floyd in May, individuals, institutions and companies took to social media to speak out about police brutality and racism in the United States.

Across the country, predominantly white fraternities and sororities posted statements of solidarity, educational infographics or even apologies for the racist actions of their members.

But one can’t denounce racism without making amends to a racist past and taking accountability for one’s actions. At Syracuse University, Greek life organizations have finally started to make some changes when it comes to recruiting students of diverse backgrounds. 

My sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, had many discussions about our executive board’s lack of diversity, the idea of diversity during recruitment and other internal issues within the house. My sorority was not alone, as many Greek organizations have done the same. 

The National Panhellenic Conference and the Interfraternity Council were created as exclusionary clubs for white students at higher education institutions. As a result, councils such as the National Pan-Hellenic Council, National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations and the Multicultural Greek Council were formed to include students of color in Greek life. 

After years of exclusive recruitment, NPC and IFC are finally looking at diversity as an issue within their Greek organizations. Predominantly white Greek organizations finally viewed their oppressive history through a deeper lens this summer when they were either called out for their exclusionary ideals or when they wanted to express solidarity but had yet to acknowledge Greek life’s systemic racism. 

One policy that many sororities follow is the concept of legacies, in which a student has a direct family member who was initiated into that same organization in the past. These potential new members are given an advantage during recruitment on the sole basis of a family member being a part of that organization. But this policy puts immigrant students and students of color at a disadvantage when going through recruitment.

Most first-generation students or students of color have parents and family members who were not given the opportunity to join these organizations or were not able to attend university in the U.S. at all. Many students this summer were bold to point out how damaging this recruitment tactic can be, and some sororities have ended the legacy tradition. With the help of increased accountability during the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, this policy was one of many parts of Greek life that some organizations have made attempts to reform.

Katherine Quinn, a junior at SU and a member of NPC sorority Phi Sigma Sigma, has a similar take on Greek life.

“Greek life, at its core, is not an institution that fosters diversity and inclusivity. I wish I could say Greek life truly values a wide variety of people. Unfortunately, so much of Greek life is centered around the idea of exclusivity and homogeneity,” she said.

Members of Greek life organizations often view diversity as members of color being the ‘token minority’ in that house. 

“Diversity, to Greek life, isn’t a cohesive plan of future action. It’s merely an idea, and sometimes a member, to be touted in the public eye,” Quinn said. 

White members of Greek organizations often did not hear the voices of members of color until these discussions of systemic racism and police brutality spread like wildfire on social media. Even NPC at SU posted educational infographics on the systemic racism of Greek life and vowed to do better in supporting students of color. 

Predominantly white Greek organizations are no longer using diversity as just a buzzword during recruitment to attract members of color. They’re finally looking at the issue with the attention it deserves.

 

Feryal Nawaz is a senior political science major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at fnawaz@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter @feryal_nawaz.

Published on October 5, 2020 at 10:13 pm