The Oscars this year featured a red carpet of stars in dresses to die for, along with greats like Leonardo DiCaprio, who (finally!) won his first Oscar, and Chris Rock, who hosted while comically addressing the elephant in the room, the question of racism in regard to the Oscars and the severe lack of minority nominees.
During his opening monologue, Rock quipped: “Hollywood is sorority racist. It’s like, ‘We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa.’ That’s how Hollywood is.”
The truth is that no sorority girl wants to admit that the organization she is a part of and proud of is inherently racist. And in most cases, the individual girls in sororities cannot be blamed for the lack of diversity in their sorority chapter. But the fact is that the vast majority of American Greek systems are whitewashed, either purposefully or accidentally.
Part of this phenomenon is merely a manifestation of the inherent racism in society overall. The ethnic makeup of the University of Texas at Austin is composed of a population that is 45 percent white, 23 percent Asian, 21 percent Hispanic and only 4 percent black. When these statistics are compared to the overall Texas demographics of 39 percent white, 2.7 percent Asian, 32 percent Hispanic and 11.5 percent black, it becomes clear that the makeup of our university itself is not racially, and therefore likely socioeconomically, representative of the makeup of the Texas population. This is a problem for a public university. And yet, “UT Austin boasts excellent ethnic diversity,” according to College Factual, which ranks it number 172 in ethnic diversity nationwide "with a student body composition that is far above the national average.”
So yes, the lack of diversity in sororities is to some degree a reflection of the disproportionately low percentage of minority students in the student body. There are not as many minority girls rushing because there are just not as many minority girls here. Even so, there is undeniable segregation between different Greek “councils,” which are separated to some degree by race, like the Texas Asian Pan-Hellenic Council, which is primarily Asian; the Latino Pan-Hellenic Council, which is primarily Hispanic; and the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which is primarily black.
That being said, of the 16 percent of the UT Austin population in Greek Life, a whopping 87 percent of the Greek Community is made up of the traditionally “white” sororities and fraternities. Settling for segregated Greek councils would be an injustice to the members of all Greek organizations as well as a way to continue the disparity between the “separate but equal” racially divided organizations.
An overhaul of the Greek system in favor of completely inclusive and unsegregated sororities and fraternities is wholly unrealistic, but there are simple steps that can be taken to begin to make sorority recruitment more inclusive and open to diversity.
The most obvious and extreme steps to more diversity-inclusive sorority recruitment would be the elimination of legacy as a factor in the recruitment process and removal of the letters of recommendation. Because Panhellenic sororities were traditionally white, legacy as a component of recruitment in any way inherently lends itself to accepting more white students as well as justifying the racial disparity. Going hand in hand with this idea, the required letters of recommendation from sorority alumnas also prove for many minority students a racial barrier to entry because to be a sorority alumna, until very recently, usually meant being white. This simple step would radically open recruitment to minority students who believe they cannot rush because they do not know “old, white women” who can write them recommendations and letters of support.
A debatably even bigger step in the right direction would be implementing a delayed rush at UT. Many schools already have delayed rush and within the scope of diversity in sororities, having a delayed rush would allow minority students the opportunity to see that rushing is possible for them as well as allow all students considering Greek lifetime to adjust to college before deciding whether or not they want to be in a sorority. This would allow recruitment additionally to be overall more inclusive by allowing sorority girls to get to know their potential new members and vice versa, allowing for a bigger, more inclusive and informed recruitment process.
There is also a socioeconomic barrier to entry to University Panhellenic sororities. With dues ranging in the thousands, it is no wonder that many girls, not only minority girls, cannot afford to be a part of Panhellenic sororities. This too is a fact that to some degree cannot be helped, but Panhellenic sororities should make efforts to lower fees and create scholarship funds for diverse students who cannot necessarily afford to be a part of a sorority otherwise.
Finally, a step that should absolutely be taken is an active effort in intermingling between Panhellenic, black, Asian, and Latino sororities and fraternities. While the current reality stands that much of Greek life is to some degree racially segregated, the very least that can be done is an integration of these councils to some degree through inter-council mixers, parties, and philanthropy events.
None of this is to say that there are no minority students in Greek life. That would be a hugely incorrect generalization. I have lots of diverse friends who are in Panhellenic sororities, and I do not believe any given recruitment team is racist. But Chris Rock didn’t imply that there were no black actors in Hollywood, or that any given casting director was racist. He aimed to expose that the opportunities given to gifted black actors are limited and that something institutionally needs to change. I hope that I have accomplished the same.
