Story Pitch: Can UGA’s Greek Life fix its diversity problem?
Greek life has been a part of the University of Georgia’s campus since the 1920s. It is an integral part of the campus’s party life and after seeing thousands of young women go through recruitment to be a part of these social organizations, it seemed to be pretty popular. In recent years, many fraternities and sororities have been under fire due to a lack of inclusivity and discriminatory behavior. Many of these organizations are jumping to dismiss members due to this behavior and create inclusivity and diversity clubs within their organizations. Others are ignoring these issues and still allowing members to stay in these groups. Questions are starting to arise: What is the overall protocol to handle situations like this? Is there even one? And, of course, how do we start to become more diverse among these popular organizations?
When I was a freshman, I knew nothing about sororities or Greek life. I was from out-of-state and just wanted to make friends. I didn’t ask questions about inclusivity when vetting these sororities that I would send the rest of my college career in. With our society being so volatile, and everyone searching for justice and fairness, I felt that it was time to look within to question issues I’ve never tackled before. This article is important to me to see what my sorority, what every organization, is doing to become more diverse, and also to reprimand the racist acts that are being done within them. I have to know more.
