Everyone knows that whether you consider yourself to be black, white, Asian or Latino, you can also be Greek. You enter the Greek community and suddenly have brothers or sisters of all different races and ethnicity.Or do you?
Prejudice has greatly subsided on Northwestern's campus since the early days of integration in the mid-1960s, but segregation among racial and ethnic groups has not altogether disappeared. It is not uncommon to see a table of Asian students sitting together in the dining hall, or a group of African American students walking together to class. There is an evident gap between our interracial relationships today and the extent to which we could develop them.
Though statistics concerning the racial and ethnic composition of sororities and fraternities under the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council are not available, there is an obvious disparity between the proportion of minority students in these houses and that of minorities at Northwestern. But is this on account of the houses' selection criteria or is it the decisions of minority students not to be a part of the Greek system? And what about those traditionally black, Latino and Asian fraternities and sororities?
Most people seem to agree that the lack of minorities in the traditional Greek system is not due to prejudice in the Greek system.
"I don't believe the traditional Greek houses are prejudiced at all," says sophomore Jane Meng of Kappa Kappa Gamma. "In Kappa, we have a lot of international girls and we pride ourselves on our diversity. And while certain houses may have their own ways of offering bids, it is rare that a person receives no bid at all."
When the Greek system originated back in 1859, there was no concern over minorities in Greek houses, since Asian, Latino and black students did not attend Northwestern.
But as the university became more diverse, these students were continuously excluded from the fraternity and sorority scene.
In 1917, a group of African American students started the first black fraternity on campus, Kappa Alpha Psi. Kappa wasn't recognized by IFC until 1941.
Now Kappa and the six other historically black Greek-letter organizations on campus are part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, rather than IFC.
The three Latin and two Asian Greek-letter organizations on Northwestern's campus were not formed until recent years. The first was the Latina sorority Sigma Lambda Gamma in 1999. The most recent was the Asian sorority Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, formed in 2002. They are all part of the Multicultural Greek Council, which was formed in spring of 2002. With a small list of members, ranging from three to 18 students, none of the organizations in NPHC and MGC have houses and do not like to be referred to as houses.
One benefit of these organizations is that they give minority students the opportunity to develop friendships with people with whom they can connect culturally and feel comfortable around.
"Latino fraternal organizations serve as support networks for Latino students on campus, who often feel isolated socially and unsupported academically," said Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, president of the National
Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations. "The number of Latinos attending colleges and universities is increasing, yet most schools have not kept up by providing the resources to this population to ensure academic success. Latino fraternities and sororities meet the needs of some students by giving them a sense of family, a home away from their home."
Thorne-Thomsen doesn't see the Latino Greek system as a way of segregating oneself from other cultures.
"As a matter of course, many Latino fraternities and sororities have members from different cultures and provide their members with the opportunity to learn about other backgrounds," she said. "To say that the existence of culturally based fraternities and sororities or other student organizations is an impediment to integration puts the burden on students of color to integrate and completely misunderstands the purpose of these organizations."
Freshman Jessica Harris' reason for considering joining a black sorority relates to Thorne-Thomsen's statement.
"I think being at a university like Northwestern, it would be nice to have the extra support from other people that can understand your experience at a predominantly Caucasian school," she said. "I'm overall skeptical of joining any type of sorority because I feel like in many ways it is an act of desperation for acceptance in a group.
"Although I know this is not the case for many people, if I were to join a traditional Greek sorority, I would most likely be in the minority, which is something I experience anyway on an everyday basis.
"Whereas, in a black sorority, I would not be in the minority, more people would be able to relate to my experience, and I would not have to serve as another person's 'black experience'."
While some minority students don't want to be the cultural experiences for others, some students feel that being a part of the minority Greek system would prevent them from experiencing different cultures.
Sophomore Gabe Gutierrez feels this way about his decision to join Sigma Phi Epsilon, rather than the Latino fraternity Omega Delta Phi.
"They seem like they want to separate themselves from the rest of the campus," he said. "I get the feeling that they're kind of bitter. I've been around the Hispanic culture so much. I grew up going to a school that was 90 percent Hispanic and I feel that now it's more beneficial to branch out."
Sophomore Rob Correa, also of Sig Ep, agrees.
"You let in different groups to diversify the school, but if they all stay together, are you diversifying the school?" he asks. "No. But if you go into the traditional Greek system, you bring your culture to others. I feel like the minority frats and sororities aren't doing a good job of this. If you want people to see your culture then you need to branch out."
Both Gutierrez and Correa were not originally planning to rush at all but when members of Sig Ep befriended them as freshman, they decided to join the house. They were aware of the Latino fraternity on campus but didn't feel it would be the best experience for them.
"They called us in the beginning of freshman year and asked us to come to a function, but they seemed really impersonal," Correa said. "They just went down a list of Hispanic last names and called everyone on the list."
Freshman Ashley Lorenz, a new member of Gamma Phi Beta, had similar feelings about the Hispanic sororities on campus.
"Before I got to campus I considered joining a Hispanic sorority," she said. "I went to the first function at Day at NU and I felt that they were elitist. When I saw them on campus, they only talked to each other and I didn't think that was the point of college."
Brian Kwan joined the Asian fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon because of the comfort level and the closeness of the brothers, but he never planned to isolate himself from people who were not Asian.
"I think whether you segregate yourself depends on the person," he said. "For me personally, I have friends of all different ethnicities outside of my fraternity. It is more than just an Asian interest club, but I don't think it contributes to segregation."
Whether they chose to join traditional Greek or historically black, Asian or Latino fraternities and sororities, many students agree that there should be more interaction among the different Greek communities.
"A bunch of my girl friends are in the Greek sororities and they have date parties and exchanges all the time," said Kwan. "It would be nice if the minority fraternities and sororities could have more events with the more traditional Greek houses. But there seems to be a gap between the cultural and traditional Greek communities that neither has yet to bridge."
As Thorne-Thomsen put it, "True integration can only be accomplished in an environment where students of all backgrounds make a commitment to understand and respect each other."
