[hoosier]

Greek integration: One year later
By Steve Reeves
Staff Writer
August 18, 2002

Email this story.


Members of Alpha Chi Omega sorority practice their door song at the sorority house on Colonial Drive Thursday afternoon. The University of Alabama Greek system is preparing for rush week. One year after Melody Twilley failed to break the racial barrier of UA’s Greek system, traditionally all-white fraternities and sororities still have yet to integrate. Staff Photo | Jason Getz

TUSCALOOSA | Melody Twilley is rather enjoying the break from the media attention.

Last year, reporters documented her every move during her attempt to break the racial barrier in the University of Alabama Greek system.

Twilley, the black honors student who came to UA from a prestigious high school, failed two years in a row in her efforts to join one of UA’s 15 traditionally all-white sororities.

"It kind of takes a load off," the 19-year-old Twilley said recently. "I know a lot more now than I did then. It was kind of a waste of time."

Twilley this year is devoting her efforts to helping form a new, multicultural sorority on campus, one that will have different membership requirements than the traditional Greek groups.

"The major difference is that our composition is different," she said. "We come from different economic and social backgrounds, and we have minorities. We’re making pretty good progress."

The sorority, which has fewer than 30 members, will choose which national group it will be affiliated with sometime in the next couple of months.

A relatively new fraternity, Lambda Sigma Phi, a faith-based group, is the only majority white Greek organization at UA that has accepted black members. The group, which has 26 members, has a house on fraternity row and admitted its first black member last November. Another black has joined since.

The fraternity is expected to be admitted to UA’s Interfraternity Council by the beginning of next year.

In addition to the 15 white sororities, the university has 21 all-white fraternities on campus, as well as eight traditionally black Greek groups. There are about 3,000 students in Greek groups, making up 20 percent of the student body.

UA administrators say they are glad to see students tackling the Greek integration issue on their own, but are not entirely content with the way things are now.

"These new groups are meeting a market that just hasn’t been addressed," said Tom Strong, UA’s dean of students. "But I don’t think they will take the place of having minority membership in traditionally white groups."

The university has long wrestled with integrating its Greek system, taking steps such as delaying rush until after classes start in the fall to encourage more students to take part and encouraging the white groups to seek out qualified minority members.

Strong said several white fraternities invited blacks to their pre-rush events this summer, but none showed up.

"One day that kind of work is going to pay off," he said. "Some seeds are being planted that show it can be done."

UA officials said they don’t know yet if any blacks are planning to take part in rush for the white Greek groups this fall, which begins Aug. 29 and ends Sept. 10.

Kevin Clark, the president of the Interfraternity Council, said the white fraternities are advertising rush more this semester to boost attendance.

"We want to open it up to guys who don’t know about rush, and that includes everybody, not just blacks," Clark said. "Our numbers are kind of dwindling. So we need guys to come out to rush."

UA’s faculty senate took a strong stance last year against the university’s segregated Greek system, passing several resolutions asking the white groups to accept blacks and recommending sanctions for those that didn’t.

Faculty senate President Steve Miller said the group plans to take a more low-key approach to dealing with the white Greek organizations. The faculty senate steering committee likely will discuss Greek integration on Tuesday, but Miller said no firm action has been decided yet.

"We want to give them the room to gather their forces and do what is right," he said.