Risa C. Doherty’s article “Greek Letters At A Price” in the New York Times provides a perspective on the cost of a Greek life.

“Imagine finding a bill for $200 in your mailbox because your daughter was late to a couple of sorority events. Imagine, too, that those who snitched were her new best friends. This is one of the unwelcome surprises of sorority membership.

“Depending on the generosity of the vice president of standards, a fine can be reversed with proof of a qualifying reason, such as a funeral, doctor’s appointment or medical emergency, so long as a doctor’s note is forthcoming. A paper due or a test the next day? No excuse. (Fraternities, by the way, rarely impose even nominal fines to enforce punctuality.)

“Now imagine attending mandatory weekend retreats, throwing yourself into charitable work, making gifts for your sisters and, at tradition-thick schools like the University of Alabama and University of Missouri, investing 30 to 40 hours pomping — threading tissue paper through chicken wire to create elaborate homecoming decorations or parade floats that outdo rivals’.

“Official charges include Panhellenic dues, chapter fees, administrative fees, nonresident house/parlor fees, a onetime pledging and initiation fee and contribution toward a house bond. Members must also buy a pin (consider the diamond-encrusted one) and a letter jersey. Without housing, basic costs for the first semester (the most expensive) average $1,570 at University of Georgia sororities, $1,130 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and $1,580 at Syracuse University.

“But such fees are only a portion of the real cost. Add in fines, philanthropy and the incidentals that are essential to participate in sorority life and the total spirals upward, especially when a closetful of designer party dresses is part of the mix.

“Nicole Davies, a peer adviser at American University’s career center, observes that many students’ grades suffers as they pledge. When she rushed Alpha Chi Omega, she experienced almost a full week of all-nighters. She had to work two jobs to pay her expenses — she had been ‘clueless’ about the hundreds of dollars in extras — and found it too stressful. She de-sistered.

“Ms. Rodgers, too, dropped out of her sorority. As she was struggling to get everything done on her overcommitted schedule, she would miss class or pull an all-nighter, and she started to resent being made to feel guilty when she would try to get out of an event. When she left she had to return all letter items, including shirts, bags and a $130 pin, without reimbursement.

“For her 2004 exposé, ‘Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities,’ Alexandra Robbins interviewed hundreds of sorority members. ‘It is a massive time commitment, but they also want the girls to pare down their non-Greek activities,’ she said recently. She estimates that the demands ‘take more time than an extra class.’

“Sorority veterans recommend students do research before joining, to get different perspectives. Ms. Davis of Gamma Phi Beta encourages pledge candidates to visit sororities’ social media pages and websites, and to ask the meatier questions. ‘You need to collect all the info you can to make the best decision that works for you,’ she says. She acknowledges, however, that freshmen clamoring for a bid can lack the confidence to ask about attendance policies and finances.

“Sororities are governed according to their own guidelines, and colleges do not intervene to limit their demands on students. But Ms. Robbins believes it is the colleges’ role to take action. She says they could do a much better job reporting what sorority life is like by requiring that each chapter supply recruits with a realistic list of time commitments and average yearly costs.

“Universities are hesitant to crack down, Ms. Robbins suggests, because Greek alumni have strong bonds to the university and make sizable contributions.

“Sororities can provide young women with a lively social life, engagement in community and the satisfaction of supporting worthy causes, but they’re clearly not for everyone. ‘If you’re going to join a sorority,’ Ms. Rodgers said, ‘you must dedicate your life to it.'”

Lewis Carroll’s Alice said, “It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”  But when you fall into a rabbit hole that really shouldn’t be expected.

The University of Alabama’s President Judy Bonner is a member of the 2014 class of the Alabama Academy of Honor. According to Ed Enoch in The Tuscaloosa News, “The academy honors living Alabamians for accomplishments that benefit or reflect well upon the state. Bonner is being recognized for her career at UA, according to an announcement. Bonner is the first woman to lead the Capstone.”

Perhaps if she came up with a good response to a “Letter From A Concerned Mother To Judy Bonner,” Judy Bonner might be honorable for a change. But the Academy probably is more concerned with power than “honor.”

Of course when faculty members express the obvious their wording is often cloaked in the rarefied air of the academy. Another article by Ed Enoch “University of Alabama Faculty Senate receives reports on Greek diversity” reported on the the University of Alabama Faculty Senate’s “Task Force for Excellence in Equity, Inclusion and Citizenship.”

Enoch wrote, “In its report on diversity and inclusivity, the recommendations included a survey of the campus climate regarding diversity and existing programs and organizations; a unified message of UA’s commitment to diversity to new students during introductory activities; changes to the Capstone Creed and UA’s equal employment opportunity statement; creation of an executive position to oversee campus diversity and multicultural programs; construction of a center for diversity and inclusivity; and including coursework addressing multiculturalism and diversity in the core curriculum.

“The core coursework recommendation prompted a debate among the senators about how it could be implemented, with some questioning whether there was enough space to add a course to the core, if existing courses could fill the role, and whether extracurricular activities or training could also accomplish the goal.

“The task force felt the recommendation could potentially have the broadest impact on the campus culture among students, task force member Norm Baldwin said.

“Senators also asked questions about whether there was support from the administration for a new executive position. Baldwin — while acknowledging historically lukewarm interest by the university in a diversity executive position — said he was not unhopeful.”

Then, if there is truly hope that Judy Bonner will lead the University administration to a new day of diversity, perhaps there is still time for her to earn her honor.

But some members of the Faculty Senate are concerned about the report. Enoch wrote, “Some senators raised questions about the fairness of singling out the fraternities and sororities among the student organizations for the targeted list of reforms. The traditionally white Greek organizations have had problems historically with diversity, Baldwin said.”

Well, that makes sense!

Photo published with Gawker article

In a Gawker article UofA Girl Kicked Out of Sorority After “NO Niggas!!!!!” Snapchat  Allie Jones questions whether the claim that sorority alumnae were behind last year’s discriminatory practices during sorority rush was accurate.

The offending Snapchat—a selfie that also featured a yellow heart emoji, a red heart emoji, the “no good” girl emoji, and the “OMG girl” emoji—was sent on Bid Day this past Saturday, according to Alabama officials. Bid Day, for those (literally) uninitiated, is when sororities formally hand out invitations to join them after the rush period. Everyone wears matching t-shirts and runs around screaming for hours. (In the Snapchat you can see at least one girl was enjoying a morning mimosa.)

The university is still investigating the Snapchat incident, so the girl who sent it probably isn’t in trouble with the school yet, but she was kicked out of Chi O. In an email to students, Alabama President Judy Bonner wrote, “We are all extremely disappointed when any student uses language that is disrespectful or offensive to any segment of the UA community. We are especially sad that this incident occurred on a day that was an exciting and happy one for the young women who participated in fall recruitment.”

Before Bonner sent that email, Chi O stans speculated on Total Sorority Move that the photo had been doctored or was the unfortunate result of an autocorrect error. (Apparently, Alabama sorority girls’ phones are autocorrecting “ninjas” to “niggas” all the time.) But nah, some girl really sent that Snapchat to all her friends.

When it was first revealed last year that Alabama sororities were systematically blocking black women from joining them, undergrads blamed their alumnae, claiming that this older, racist cohort instructed them to do so. This incident obviously undermines that claim.

In response to a racially offensive Snap Shot post by a  member of the Chi Omega University of Alabama President Judy Bonner sent the following email:

As many of you already know, one of our students posted a photo on Snap Chat on Saturday afternoon that included particularly offensive racial language. I immediately asked the Office of Student Conduct to conduct a full investigation and was assured by the national Chi Omega headquarters that they had already begun an investigation of their own. There will be appropriate University consequences once our investigation is completed. These consequences will be in addition to any sanctions Chi Omega’s national officers decide to impose.

We are all extremely disappointed when any student uses language that is disrespectful or offensive to any segment of the UA community. We are especially sad that this incident occurred on a day that was an exciting and happy one for the young women who participated in fall recruitment.

Behavior, actions and choices that disparage other students are particularly reprehensible and do not represent the values or meet the expectations of our University community. UA and the members of our Panhellenic sororities took great strides forward on bid day by pledging a diverse group of young women that included 21 African American members. The results of bid day and the dedication of hundreds of students, employees and alumni who worked extremely hard this past year to achieve the important and significant milestones UA reached on bid day cannot and should not be dismissed or minimized.

I want to assure you that The University of Alabama will not allow this incident to interrupt our progress. We will continue to work diligently and with a renewed commitment to make sure that UA is a welcoming and inclusive campus every day of the week.

Judy Bonner
President

The Chi Omegas are known for their rush advisor, Emily Jamison (Director of the U of A President’s and Chancellor’s events) who allegedly was instrumental in the Chi Omegas dropping their one black recruit in last year’s rush. A  2013 story in The Crimson White reported that a member of Chi Omega, who asked to remain anonymous, said “‘I know [the recruit] got perfect scores from the people in chapter the first day, and she got cut after the first day and I know it had to do with our advisor – is the one that dropped her,’ the Chi Omega member said. ‘Her name is Emily Jamison.’”

The Chi Omegas were also one of the sororities that was implicated in the votes-for-booze scandal where Greeks were reputed to have been offered free drinks  when they voted for candidates who had a Machine affiliation in last year’s Tuscaloosa School Board race.

The media was blocked from this year’s sorority rush according to The Daily Caller‘s article “After Last Year’s Racist Debacle, University Of Alabama Now BLOCKS PRESS From Sorority Rush“

Sometimes it’s hard to keep racism under wraps.

Maybe Judy Bonner will learn someday?

————————————————-

A reader of this blog pointed out: “The article speaks for itself, but FYI, the photo of the sorority showing up on FB feeds is not of Chi Omega, it is of Alpha Chi Omega. Two different sororities. Please strive for accuracy and change that photo to the proper group because now you are dragging another group of women through the mud.”

The image attached to the Facebook feeds unfortunately can’t be changed. With a 1% total record for pledging blacks the University of Alabama’s sororities are all wallowing in the mud. If Alpha Chi Omega did a little better its woman are certainly stomping a little less in the mud.

Has Southern Change come at last to the University of Alabama’s Greek System?

…not according to Deborah M. Lane, Associate Vice president for University Relations. In an Associated Press report, Lane said all pledges who identified themselves as black received a bid to join a sorority. Still, she said:  

“We have not reached our destination.”

The AP report gave details about the most recent sorority recruitment.

“Annual recruitment has ended for sororities at the University of Alabama with black women making up just 1 percent of new members.

“The university released a breakdown of the 2014 sorority pledge class Saturday amid questions over whether the groups accept blacks as new members. Its numbers showed 2,054 women accepted bids to join sororities. Of those, 190 were minorities — including 21 black women.”

Alabama lyrics by Neil Young:

In many Facebook comments about the last franklinstoveblog post Bama Sorority Wants to Stay Lily-white  there have been some very defensive attitudes expressed about the University of Alabama’s Greek system.

One commenter said that writers were ignoring the discrimination in their own backyards. One person commented that Alabama has more minorities in its sororities than many other campuses. One person said that the media exploits the South.

At least the Montgomery Advertiser’s Josh Moon gets it. He opined in UA sorority sisters showed courage:

I loathe the indifference for public education. And the way minorities and anyone slightly different from white and rich are treated makes me sick

I would like for those things to change. And so I stay because the powerful play goes on and I may contribute a verse.

Most days, to be quite honest, it does seem as if that verse is being shouted into a vacuum.

When obviously good legislation fails to pass — bills that would remove a food tax or provide health care to 300,000 citizens or stop lenders from gouging the poor — I wonder whether there’s really any hope. When I see the way minorities are still intentionally held down, I wonder whether there’s any interest in being better.

But on other days, there are Melanie Gotz, Yardena Wolf, Katie Smith, Caroline Bechtel and Kirkland Back.

If you don’t know them by name, you should. These are the sorority members at the University of Alabama who spoke out about the racist rush practices taking place in their Greek houses.

In a story appearing in next month’s Marie Claire magazine, Gotz, Wolf, Smith, Bechtel and Back reveal what led them to speak out and what the results were.

It provides a stunning glimpse into the raw intolerance and “blatant racism” that still exists among the state’s most elite.

Don’t be fooled. Simply because this happened on a college campus does not mean that it is a college-kid issue confined to the campus borders. These are the daughters of the state’s most powerful and influential people. These women, and the men from the fraternities with whom they partner, will form a large percentage of the state’s leadership in years and decades to come.

It’s good to see that Josh Moon recognizes the brave efforts of students such as Katie Smith to bring about a little Southern change!

Kayla Webley’s article in Marie Claire was the first out of the gate with unflattering depictions of the University of Alabama’s Greek System.

Now an article by Hillary Crosley in Jezebel “University of Alabama Sorority Felt Blacks Were ‘Bad for Our Status'” paints another bleak picture of Bama sororities.

Sounds like the American campus that was integrated by force in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy is still working out its issues; the ongoing campus culture, year after year, is further proof that racism is learned. Hopefully the lesson changes soon.

 

Lyrics of Southern Man by Neil Young:

Southern man
better keep your head
Don’t forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast

Southern man
I saw cotton
and I saw black
Tall white mansions
and little shacks.
Southern man
when will you
pay them back?
I heard screamin’
and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long?

Southern man
better keep your head
Don’t forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast
Southern man

Lily Belle,
your hair is golden brown
I’ve seen your black man
comin’ round
Swear by God
I’m gonna cut him down!
I heard screamin’
and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long?

 

Lyrics to Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again
And I think its a sin, yes

Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I’m coming home to you

In Birmingham they love the gov’ nor (boo, boo, boo)
Now we all did what we could do

Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I’m coming home to you
Here I come Alabama

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they’ve been known to pick a song or two

Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I’m feeling blue
Now how about you?

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I’m coming home to you

Sweet home Alabama
Oh sweet home baby
Where the skies are so blue
And the guv’nor’s true
Sweet Home Alabama
Lordy Lord, I’m coming home to you
Yea, yea Montgomery’s got the answer

 

 In Kayla Webley’s Marie Claire article “Revolution on Sorority Row” Katie Smith seems like a hero.

But rather than allow the status quo to persist for yet another year, some sorority women spoke out. “Our sorority has a culture of silence. We were to never speak about the fact that we didn’t have any African-Americans,” says Katie Smith, 20, a senior and member of Wolf’s house, Alpha Omicron Pi. “I was tired of being silenced.” Members of several houses were quoted anonymously in an article published by the campus newspaper, The Crimson White. CNN, The New York Times, and other outlets sent reporters to cover the story.

 

It’s possible that some readers of this blog don’t remember the letter from Katie Smith’s mother to University of Alabama President Judy Bonner that stirred up so many resentful comments about Katie.

A prophet often is only recognized by those who are outside. The article by Kayla Webley is a reminder that students such as Katie Smith rose above the traditional attitudes of racial prejudice and set in motion the wheels of change.

The Webley article concluded:

Such firmly ingrained mind-sets won’t change overnight, but many are seeing the opening up of the Greek system as impetus to have a larger dialogue on campus. Smith sponsored a resolution in the student government to encourage complete integration in all Greek houses. (It failed, but a similar resolution to support integration passed a month later.) Bechtel and Wolf helped start Students for Open Doors and Ethical Leadership, which brings members of campus groups together to discuss ways to further integrate. Another organization called Blend hosts weekly “Blend Days,” during which students of all races eat together at a designated table in the cafeteria. (Otherwise, the tables are mostly unofficially segregated by race.) The faculty senate created a task force to draw up recommendations for increasing equality on campus. The true test of whether these initiatives are paying off, and whether the integration that came under pressure last fall will have a lasting effect, is the next round of formal sorority recruitment at Alabama. At the moment, rush is on.

Jezebel has framed the belated attempt by the SGA to recover from its recent legislative faux pas in a story “Alabama Greek System Wants a Cookie for Accepting a Few Blacks.”  Hillary Crosley reported:

University of Alabama’s student government recently agreed to desegregate their Greek sororities and fraternities. Good job, guys! Also, you do know it’s 2014, right?

Last week the school’s student government voted on a measure, originally blocked in March, to integrate Alabama’s fraternities and sororities. Katie Smith, a student senator who wrote the resolution’s early draft according to the Huffington Post, says a campus group called “The Machine” worked to keep the school’s clubs racially segregated through their powerful control Greek society.

This retro-nightmare was Alabama student government president Hamilton Bloom’s first dalliance with a controversial measure. He was reportedly backed by The Machine — and perhaps paid? — for his position.

“I believe the resolution passed tonight is a great solution,” Bloom said in a statement Thursday. “My administration and I are dedicated to seeing and encouraging results in the integration of both fraternities and sororities, and I believe the resolution passed tonight, in addition to the Diversity Caucus which will be introduced soon, are incredible first steps.”

Listen: These kids do not get a cookie for doing something their student body should’ve done in 1963. This is why minorities get so upset — old paradigms like segregation should not be something that still needs to be legislated, and certainly not at the collegiate level nor at the very school where President Kennedy sent the National Guard to reel in the racists so black students could integrate UA’s classrooms in 1963.

Furthermore, would you want anyone associated with revoking this “bill” or The Machine working for or interning beside you? I wouldn’t. They’re still trying to climb their way out of the background scenes of Forrest Gump.

As much as residents of Southern states like this want to say times have changed, UA is upholding the biggest stereotype of all: that they long for the old days and are fighting tooth and nail to keep the nostalgia alive.

Alabama’s flagship university, sometimes called The Capstone, is ruled by a bunch of redneck, racist rubes. They don’t cotton to criticism, whether it’s in the letter from a student’s mother or in Jezebel. It’s really too bad that most students at the University don’t seem to mind being tarnished by association.

Many University of Alabama students, such as Katharine Smith, have bucked The University of Alabama’s Machine. Most students are just trying to get an education. Their parents are just trying to make a living. But there’s a problem with the “go-along, get-along” approach to life.

Citizens of the Third Reich who were Hitler’s, perhaps to some extent unknowing, accomplices in genocide eventually found out that “what goes around comes around.” Even even proud patriotic citizens of the USA have discovered that the American Dream was often a nightmare. After losing their savings and loan investments or seeing their IRAs dramatically drop in value, due to the activities of the Enrons or Goldman Sachs of the financial sector, some people have questioned the “system.” Parents who have lost their children in unnecessary, meaningless military misadventures based on lies, such as Vietnam and Iraq, have certainly regretted their trust in their leaders.

Unswerving alliance to a secret campus organization such as The Machine is a way of life that is embraced by many, but not a majority of University of Alabama students. Occasionally some students rise to the occasion and actually question authority.

The staff of the University of Alabama’s student newspaper has recently been honored for its coverage of segregation in the Greek system. The Tuscaloosa News reported that:

Staff members of the University of Alabama’s Crimson White student newspaper were among the winners of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication 2014 Ancil Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism.

Editor Abbey Crain, magazine editor Matt Ford and editor-in-chief Mazie Bryant were chosen for an Ancil Payne Award for their work on “The Final Barrier,” the September 2013 article reporting allegations that black students were passed over for bids at traditionally white UA sororities because of their race.

The annual award recognizes journalists and news organizations that act with integrity and character and demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to ethical conduct, even when faced with economic, personal or political pressure, according to the April 15 release announcing the winners.

The Crimson White was also the source for stories about The Machine’s interference in a local school board election and other misdeeds. One source with ties to The Crimson White has claimed that many articles written by student reporters were rejected and that the student newspaper’s editorial policy of mostly avoiding reporting about any controversy on campus has discouraged student reporters from even trying to report on certain issues.

So it is all the more amazing that the award winning story on the fraternal system’s racial discrimination made it to the light of day. Certainly the letter written by a parent of Katharine Smith, that was published in this blog, hasn’t been featured in The Crimson White.

Some of the comments on the blog with Ann Smith’s letter were rejected. They show the ugly mindset that many of The Machine’s Nazis have.

“UA Student” seemed to think that every thing was hunky dory:

“Hmmm, if I remember correctly, the bill she tried to pass lacked any sort of backbone. Thats [sic] why it was killed and a better one was passed this past week. One that will actually take initiative into integrating the greek system. She just wanted her name to be on something “monumental” because she’s really into politics. Sorry if the truth hurts.

“And bringing the sorority into this as a whole is unnecessary. A few bad apples shouldn’t cause the entire chapter to take the fall.”

“Bubba” has this to say…”hell yeah we dont need her kind at BAMA roll damn tide”

“UA Student” chimed in again: “There is such a wide range of students that attend the university, I am sorry that your daughter didn’t find her place. However,  for so many people, the Greek system is their place. Since you believe that those Florida universities are temples of wholesome values, why don’t you just pull her out of Alabama (so you can stop spending all that money too) and transfer her to a different school where she can be a big fish in a little pond.”

“Robert” was also not impressed by Katharine’s idealism:

“This all sounds wonderfully idealistic. While it would be great if idealists, such as this young co-ed, were able to conquer all the injustices of the world, many of them are simply trying to change the world and the people in it not because of their altruism, but because of the opposite: They are so self-centered and egotistical that they want to change their environment to suit themselves. To embark on changing decades of culture and tradition alone is either that type of self-absorption or simply a combination of stupidity and naïveté [sic]—- along with an affinity for drama. In any case, this girl’s parents are complicit for not having given her better counsel on how the world really works and what change one person can effect. It’s not surprising, however, given the mom’s overly dramatic letter to the president. She clearly thrives on the drama as much as her daughter. People can feel sorry for this young girl, but I pity her for other reasons: She’s going through life with the self-righteous and arrogant view that things should change because she wants them to rather than having the intelligence to know when she should move along and take her causes elsewhere. Little Miss Leadership also needs to learn that changing the culture of a large state university doesn’t happen overnight —- and it can’t be done by one person (as much as she had her heart set on being its savior).”

“Mark” had this to say: “What in Hell are you people crying about? Really! Can you just not see that no one has mentioned anything about “learning” in a “classroom”? Go to class, get your degree and live! All this bogus crap (from Mommy, no less) just shows how unprepared young people are to go forward in this country.”

There has been some amount of campus activity that has attempted to derail the mighty Machine. The United Alabama Project has had a small amount of success. Only when the majority of students at The University of Alabama, Greeks included, decide that enough is enough will the tyranny of The Machine end. Until then Alabama’s business and political leaders who owe their rise to power to The Machine will continue the activities that destroy the lives of many people living in The Heart of Dixie.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was thought to have said this about the failure of his fellow Germans to oppose the Third Reich:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.