If you scroll down to the bottom of this article you will see a picture of two people that are different races. I'm not the good looking woman to the right, I'm the even better looking gentleman to the left. You may notice I'm African American. I'm also wearing a bid day shirt for my fraternity, which is a part of IFC (Interfraternity Council).
For those who are unfamiliar, I'll explain in the least of professional terms: IFCs are the fraternities that do not have many minorities in them. Now, this article is supposed to be funny and informative about what it's like to be a minority in an IFC fraternity. I'm stating this because I will be playing off of races and stereotypes, and I wouldn't want anyone to be offended.
My fraternity brothers aren't blind (forgive me if you have a blind fraternity brother). They obviously know what ethnicity I am, and I applaud them for continuing to be themselves and being aware of me. What are you saying London?
What I'm saying is that stereotypes do exist, and for all of the funniest reasons. You want to guess who played A Team basketball? You want to guess who was on the football team, softball team, soccer team (I'm Nigerian)? Who was asked to be in the Homecoming and Greek Week dances? One more, who was asked to compete in the Greek rap battle?
Yes, I have either participated or have been asked to participate in events that are stereotypically geared to my demographic. I have also been asked to go watch NASCAR races with my brothers' families, and if I want to go skeet shooting.
The brotherhood is just that, a brotherhood. My brothers are understanding of me and of my culture, just like I am understanding of them. My brothers don't see race, they just see London. My house has six African-American brothers and plenty more whom are minorities. I would say we have the most diverse chapter on campus.
I do not want the media and word of mouth to keep minorities or anyone for that matter from joining a Greek organization, especially IFC. Greek life is fantastic. 85 percent of Fortune 500 executives belong to a fraternity or sorority. Greeks raise over seven million dollars every year, and of the 50 largest companies, 43 are led by Greeks. The statistics show why I decided to join my organization. I didn't join because I'd finally get to taste whiskey or to look good while wearing short shorts. I joined because I loved how accepting my brothers were of me regardless of my ethnicity.
Being African American in IFC is amazing....and outstandingly hilarious.
