Last week the Alpha Phi’s of UA blew up the internet with their recruitment video. I follow a group on Facebook called The Cooler Connection as many of my readers do and someone posted this video trying to seek what the problem with the video is. I saw comments anywhere from
“I think the backlash is completely ridiculous. GDIs are always trying to insult sorority women and fraternity men, they will LITERALLY find anything to poke at. I think the video was amazing, I felt myself wanting to join Alpha Phi at Bama. Don't let the haters stop you from doin' your thang~”
to
"<---- black, GDI, and a Georgia fan. Still not mad about this.”
Notice how I didn’t include a quote about how people were completely appalled. The problem is not with college students, the problem is with people who aren’t in college. NOTE: I am a GDI, so the first comment is a little ridiculous to me. You want to defend your sorority sisters by insulting people who aren’t in Greek life? Makes complete sense. Anyway, that’s beside the point.
I’ve been keeping up with this on Fox News and other popular news sources to get some opposing views. I think the biggest argument was that it is not racially diverse AND YOU’RE RIGHT. It’s not racially diverse, but did you take in consideration why it’s not? About 82% of Alabama’s 36,000 students are white. Of the 18% of the minority, we can assume that not every single one of them rushed. From my understanding, during Rush Week girls get to pick the houses they would like to return to. So another thing we can assume is that of the minorities that rushed, not every one of them picked to go back to Alpha Phi. There are all black sororities, so why is it such a problem that this one happens to be all white?
Another argument was that this video objectified girls. First of all, you didn't see anything in the video you wouldn't see at the beach. If you think wearing a swimsuit is objectifying to women, then cover up. If what they look like in a swimsuit offends you, don't look. Being objectified means to have a sexist attitude. If you feel objectified or thought that women should feel objectified, YOU ARE A SEXIST.
This video looked like the girls were having fun. There was no nudity, so to say that these girls were indecent says that you have a dirty mind. There was no drinking, so to assume that that’s all these girls do, shows that you know nothing about a sorority. Many of my friends are in a sorority, and I won’t say that they don’t drink and have a good time because WE’RE IN COLLEGE AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE DOES. I will say that they do charity, the come together in a time of loss, and they provide opportunities that you may otherwise not have.
Why was this video national news? We have an upcoming election. We have ACTUAL discrimination happening in the real world. We have police brutality. We have shootings and other violence. But yet, we decide to shoot down a video of sorority girls having fun and being themselves.
UA Alpha Phi’s, I support you and your recruitment video. Remember, all publicity is good publicity. Don’t sweat it.
