All the buzz lately, whether you are a total sorority girl or not, has been about the Alpha Phi Beta Mu Chapter at the University of Alabama. For those who haven't seen it, brace yourself. No, not brace yourself in a bad way. Prepare to be blown away, not only by an overabundance of beautiful women, but by the meaning behind the video.
Why do sorority’s create pre-recruitment videos you ask? It is a popular task done by chapters across the nation to express to potential new members about what the sorority is really about. The videos usually entail short clips of girls holding up letters, smiling with one another and simply having a good time. The sororities also have loads of fun creating and producing the videos. Well, it looked like Alpha Phi did just that. Then what’s the problem you ask? You tell me.
The video is currently being scrutinized for the lack of diversity and individuality within the 4:13 minute long video. Greek organizations have always been under the microscope. As greek life becomes more and more popular, there have become numerous amounts of individuals who are willing to say negative comments about it. “I do not need to pay for my friends,” is a constant phrase being tossed around by non-greek participants. For those who have criticized the video, let me ask you this, have you ever looked into the good a chapter has done?
Did you know that there has been $1,390,276 raised by chapters of Alpha Phi across the nation? Alpha Phi is the fourth oldest sorority in the country, being discovered in 1872 at Cornell University. There are 164 collegiate chapters and more than 200,000 members. Alpha Phi is actually one of the only organizations that has twice received the American Heart Associations highest award, "The Heart and Torch Award." (http://www.alphaphi.org/AboutUs)
Sorority recruitment is a long and unique process for the girls going through it. When choosing the potential new members, comes much effort and thought. For most cases, the chapter has specfic qualifications that they are searching for. When I first applied for recruitment I had to give the Panhellenic Council an application with my GPA listed. For this year there are specific criteria that must come along with going greek including a minimum of a 2.5 GPA. With that being said, I would think that the girls going through recruitment also had to have a certain academic standing. Also, I am aware that at least for the UNH greek life, the Panhellenic Chapter must approve of the video before they release it to the public eye. There are many false accusations that come along with going through recruitment such as "they only like skinny girls" or "I'm not pretty enough." Being in a sorority at UNH in Durham I have found that I have a variety of girls who participate in sports, clubs, and have 4.0 GPA's. (http://www.alphaphi.org/AboutUs)
So who has the right to judge a sorority off of one video? Why was there a need to apologize for just a few girls having fun? Maybe next time there should be positive information about the chapter released rather than making an apology statement. If the University of Alabama is proud of there greek life system and had their back, wouldn't they have told the nation about all the good they have done? I think that before we comment on a 3 minute video we should think twice about judging a book by its cover.
