Racial segregation in Greek Life lingers

If Martin Luther King, Jr. were to walk through USM's Sorority Village, he might be surprised. Though not segregated by law, USM's Greek life system is unofficially divided by race. Of the nine sorority houses on campus, seven house predominantly white girls and two house predominantly black girls.

Some students argue the segregation is a product of the historical foundations of the underlying organizations. Since 1906, when the first black fraternity was founded, the National Pan-Hellenic Council  has governed over the predominantly black Greek organizations, explained USM's former director of Greek life, Trey Skaggs. (Skaggs left the position on September 18.) Similarly, the College Panhellenic Council governs predominantly white sororities and the Interfraternity Council predominantly white fraternities. These councils oversee separate recruitment processes and students usually do not sign up for recruitment with the opposite race; instead, most join the organizations of their own race.

Although USM's IFC fraternities have a few black members, Skaggs said the Greek life office does not keep a count of members' races.

"It would definitely be a very small number," he said, adding that this is not something the office has organized. "That's been the history of Greek life since it began."

However, Skaggs speculates that a record number of black males went through IFC recruitment last month.

"I know there's more than I've seen in years," he said. "It shows that [the IFC members] are being more open-minded."

Junior Bob Pruett, a member of the IFC fraternity Sigma Chi noticed this too.

"More and more traditionally white fraternities have black people in them now, so thankfully, it's not so stigmatized anymore," he said.

One of the few students who would discuss the topic on the record, Delta Sigma Theta member Mandie Lozano, said she chose her sorority because of its dedication to community service. Delta Sigma Theta, whose members are primarily black, with the exception of one Indian woman, one Filipino woman, and one Hispanic woman (Lozano), was founded on Christian principles and a goal to better the community. Certain aspects of the organization, however, might imply that it is only for black women, she said.

"A lot of things that we do are based on old African-American principles, like we do hop contests or step shows, and stepping came about from the African movements and African dancing, so those are things that are attractive naturally to African-Americans," Lozano said. "And there's the fact that our founders were all African-American. That might imply to some people that it's only for African-Americans."

Curtis Austin, advisor of the primarily black fraternity Omega Psi Phi and professor of black studies, said this could be a chance for Mississippi to set an example.

"I believe Mississippi is one state with the best opportunity to demonstrate to the world the power of interracial cooperation," he said. "We have the history, the proximity, which gives us a sense of who each other is, and we actually have the most need. I think the young will realize that artificial conditions like race are much more of a hindrance than help to building an organization."

But some students say the mold is too tough to break.  Delta Gamma president Rebecca Wilks said the segregation is not intentional; it's simply not on the organizations' agendas.

"I understand why, to those not involved in Greek Life, it may seem like the organizations are segregated," she said. "However, as a member of a CPC organization, we are so active within our own councils that we don't have time to be as involved with other groups as we would like."

Non-Greek sophomore Adewunmi Oke said she sees advertising as a factor in this stubborn issue.

"If it's a white sorority, and they don't necessarily have a lot of minorites, you're going to see that when they advertise it. When they're all in a group together in the photos in the yearbook, you'll see it," Oke said, adding that history seems to be an obvious influence as well.

But students have the responsibility and opportunity to stop history from repeating itself, Dr. Austin said.

"They are here t    o set the tone for their own era," he said. "People who maintain that kind of thinking are no longer part of the mainstream."

However, Oke suspects the endurance of the racial distinction is partly intentional. Oke said that girls might feel that their shared race strengthens the connection between them.

"You bond more with people you have more in common with," she said. "I don't know if that's automatically race, but it can help. It shouldn't be that way, but I just feel like that's how it is here."