We are still baffled over the segregated sororities in 2013, but we’re glad all the media attention has finally brought about change
University of Alabama Ends Segregation In Sorority System
According to TIME reports:
Nearly a week after the University of Alabama came under fire for persistent segregation in its sorority system, school officials are set to announce a deal that would clear the way for black women to be admitted to the school’s prestigious and historically white Greek organizations.
The deal, which a university spokesperson confirmed to TIME, is the first step toward ending more than a century of systematic segregation in the school’s sorority system.
The move comes after a story last week in the school’s student newspaper, The Crimson White, about a highly qualified black student being denied a bid to join any of the school’s prestigious, historically white sororities. Despite receiving excellent scores during the recruitment process from current sorority members, the young woman — who requested that her name not appear in the paper’s story – was reportedly blocked by alumnae. The sole reason, according to current sorority members: she was black. Another black woman was also denied a bid. Some alumnae even threatened to pull financial support from their sororities if they accepted black members.
“The issue is the alumnae and not the undergraduates,” says Gentry McCreary, who served as Alabama’s director of greek affairs from 2007 to 2011. “There’s definitely some fear, whether real or imagined, that there would be some repercussions if a sorority took an African American member. They’re able to subvert the will of the chapter, and it’s gone on for far too long.”
The new agreement will allow sororities to offer new bids to candidates who were not accepted during the recruitment process. The deal was reached following an emergency meeting Sunday night between University President Judy Bonner and sorority chapter advisors. The agreement is expected to allow sororities to extend bids to the young women mentioned in the Crimson White article. If they accept the offers, it will end one of the last bastions of segregation at the school.
“The allegations are that young women were not selected because of their race,” Bonner said via email. “If these allegations are true, then that is discrimination. It is against the law, University policy and the policy of the national organizations. No University organization will be allowed to discriminate against students based on their race.”
It took a newspaper article to bring about change? Sad.
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