In case some of y'all who go to USC haven't heard, someone at the Daily Gamecock took it upon themselves to explain to everyone what diversity is by talking about how, what is now called CPA, College Panhellenic Association, is diverse, because TDG decided to interview two people of color, from the 30,000 people on this campus, who happened to be rushing CPA sororities.
And yes I realize there are more than two people of color on this campus in CPA sororities. I'm not saying there is anything at all wrong with it if you are. If that's where you find your sense of community, then great, good for you!
My issue is, that one of the girls interviewed in the article, made a snide remark about NHPC (National Pan-Hellenic Council) and to an extent MGC (Multicultural Greek Council). She was quoted in the article as saying "I just feel like they're more involved. Nothing against the NPHC but I just feel... I feel like I'll be more involved in CPA than in other organizations."
Basically what she said is, CPA is the only council that does anything.
That's probably the most ignorant thing you can say about sorority and fraternity life here at USC. Just because CPA is huge and has this huge recruitment at the beginning of every year, doesn't mean nobody else does anything. Also, you have to understand that CPA has a lot of money to do huge things like Dance Marathon and recruitment because they charge you an unreal amount to move in early and for the 7 trillion T-shirts they make you buy for every event.
And just because you don't see MGC and NPHC being involved, doesn't mean it isn't happening.
I'm in an MGC sorority and I know for a fact that both us and NPHC have discussions about various topics such as sexual health, education, and professionalism. I know the Deltas have done a cookout before, and we all do community service; trust me, I've had to put hours into Garnet Gate before. So, both the person interviewed and the person writing the article clearly have no knowledge of that.
Another thing people fail to realize is that, because this is a Predominantly White Institution, the sororities and fraternities that are historically white are seen more and have a larger membership because they're catering to most of the student population here. Whereas only 20% of the student population are minorities. And while CPA sorority recruitment is publicized, MGC and NPHC have different journies to joining and if you aren't actually interested or committed, you won't know about them. But again, since neither person knows anything about Greek Life except CPA, they wouldn't know this.
Something else mentioned in the piece that I really was bothered by was that they brought up membership numbers.
Being in an MGC sorority, I know exactly why our membership has gone down but the way they phrase it in the article is that people are just dropping because they had a bad experience, and that's not it at all. These are clearly people who don't know what goes on behind the scenes and the many reasons someone may have to end their membership or suspend it.
The final thing that irks me is the quote at the end that says "...I don't stick out because I'm a girl of color, it's just a really great process." Maybe she doesn't believe she sticks out but she does. And there's not anything wrong with being the only person of color, but you will be when you all take pictures and things. As much as she wants to hope the world is colorblind, it's not. So yes, you do stick out.
The fact that this article is supposed to show diversity and you found two people of color to say how they'd rather be in CPA than anywhere else is sad.
That's not diversity that's tokenism.
You're not a hero for writing this, it just makes you look ignorant. At the very least you could've spoken to someone, anyone in NPHC and MGC organizations, to talk about their experiences but clearly, you didn't care enough about the actual diversity of thought and opinion to do that, you just wanted CPA to look "inclusive."
Also, I'm a journalism major so the fact that The Daily Gamecock is always heralded at this university as this great publication with a talented pool of journalists actually makes me nauseous.
This isn't the first time I've seen trash in the paper, but this is the last straw. This idea had to go through multiple people and then the draft had to go through multiple people and it was still okayed? That also shows that the people on that staff have no idea what diversity is nor do they probably know anything about Greek Life. I grow happier every day that I never joined that publication if this is what they deem important.
It's such a diverse staff and article, in fact, that the cover photo is mostly white people.
