LSU Greek Life organizations individually released statements regarding the Black Lives Matter movement, but some members of Greek Life question whether the statements will be backed with positive action.
Greek Life at LSU is split into three separate councils: Panhellenic Council (PHC), Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). PHC is the governing body of 14 sororities on campus, IFC is the governing body of 20 fraternities on campus and the NPHC is the governing body of six historically Black fraternities and sororities.
Each of the three Greek Life councils released statements and began discussions about inclusion and diversity following the surge of Black Lives Matter protests over the summer.
Individual sororities and fraternities also released statements of varying clarity and took different approaches to addressing racism.
PHC sororities such as Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi have spoken out against racism, donated to Black charities and began educating members on diversity and inclusion.
Angela Guillory, associate dean of students & director of Greek Life, said Greek Life is developing universal regulations regarding racist behaviors among members of Greek organizations.
“There is [a] great opportunity to educate historically white fraternities and sororities on the importance of diversity and inclusion,” Guillory said. “Our goal this year is to focus on those conversations and education.”
Guillory emphasized the importance of working with students to determine their needs.
“We recognize that awareness and education must take place at a significant level,” Guillory said.
Mass communication and English sophomore Tatum Comeaux is a member of Alpha Delta Pi and found the statements from most Greek organizations to be empty.
“I don’t know if I can say I was impressed,” Comeaux said. “An Instagram post shouldn’t be something Greek Life is applauded for. The [organizations] that posted statements seem like they were protecting themselves and trying to save face.”
However, Comeaux found IFC’s statement to be one example of how to correctly address the Black Lives Matter movement.
IFC’s executive board offered condolences to George Floyd, his family and all other victims of racism across the country and raised money to support the movement.
“We do not accept racism of any kind in our IFC community and our Greek Life community as a whole…” the IFC Instagram post on June 1 read.
Makayla Terrell, a junior in English secondary education and a member of Pi Beta Phi, said she holds herself to a higher standard to avoid being dismissed as a “crazy” or “sassy” stereotype.
Despite a positive Greek Life experience, she believes her sorority sometimes relies too much on her for guidance on how to maneuver through matters of race.
“It’s not a Black person’s responsibility to teach someone who is not Black about racism and discrimination,” Terrell said. “It’s been very traumatic as a Black person to talk about my experiences with racism over and over and over again to people who will never understand what I have been [dealing with] my whole life.”
Terrell said that while she has not experienced outright racism from members of her sorority, she has experienced microaggressions, remarks or actions derogatory in nature without intending any harm, about her hair.
She said she did not attend exchanges with fraternities her freshman year to avoid possible exclusion or fraternity members who might discriminate against her in rituals such as pledge pick-up.
“We as [members of] LSU Greek Life cannot say we accept everybody and let racist acts slide,” Terrell said. “We’re supposed to have shared values and support each other.”
More than 22% of undergraduates, around 5,000 students, are involved in Greek Life, according to the LSU Greek Life website. The University reported 4,239 Black students enrolled at the University as of fall 2019.
The Reveille requested data for a diversity breakdown of individual Greek organizations, but the University cited an exception to the Louisiana Public Records Act because the document does not exist.
The University is not required to create documents to satisfy requests under the law, said Johanna Posada, one of the University’s attorneys, in a Sept. 18 email declining the request. The University does not keep a racial demographic record of each fraternity and sorority on campus as a whole. It does, however, record the racial demographics of new members.
The most recent annual Greek Life report available from fall 2016 shows there were 465 new IFC members and 1,134 new PHC members. Of the total new IFC members, three members, around 0.6%, were Black. Of the total new PHC members, eight members, around 0.7%, were Black.
In the 2016-2017 new member classes, 91% of fraternity members and 90.4% of sorority members were white overall.
Another report in 2013 revealed that out of the 1,500 first-year students who pledged a fraternity or sorority that fall, four were Black.
In addition to the four Black students, 73 Hispanic students and 49 students from other ethnic and racial backgrounds were included in the overall number of freshmen with memberships to predominantly white Greek organizations in fall 2013.
As of 2020, there were no Black members in leadership positions in PHC or in IFC.
Psychology senior and former member of Chi Omega Kaylee Patillo believed her former sorority’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement was insufficient. She created a Twitter thread to call for the sorority to do more.
“They just wanted to ignore the Black Lives Matter movement until it went away,” Pattillo said. “It’s an uncomfortable topic, so it’s easier to act like it’s not there than to face it head on.”
After Pattillo commented under Chi Omega Nationals’ statement, the LSU chapter of Chi Omega posted an excerpt from the Nationals statement on June 4.
Pattillo later requested the rulebook to see if the local chapter or national enforced nondiscriminatory rules but came up empty-handed. She also researched past racist behaviors exhibited in the Greek community and found inconsistent repercussions.
While an alleged Tri Delta member was kicked out after a Snapchat video of her and two other girls using racial slurs went viral in June, two girls who posted a photo dressed as a prisoner and a cop with a “#policebrutality” hashtag a few years earlier remained in their respective sororities.
“Do we really not tolerate this, or do we only not tolerate this when it goes viral?” Pattillo said. “If there’s no rule that states members cannot use racial slurs, there’s no grounds to punish those people.”
The LSU section of Pledge Against Racism is a website that allows people to anonymously submit testimonies of racism they have experienced or witnessed.
Incidents range from the use of the n-word to cutting potential new members during recruitment because of their skin color.
A Delta Zeta alumna alleged she was forced to discriminate against women of color.
“I watched as women who were supposed to be ‘sisters’ cut down people who they claimed to hold close to them,” she wrote. “Greek Life and chapter advisers need to be held accountable and shouldn’t have as much say over who gets to join the chapter, especially since DZ advisors have been known to discriminate against Black [potential new members].”
One Chi Omega alumna, active from 2008-2011, alleged that the sorority prohibited her from bringing her Black boyfriend to functions or the sorority house.
“I’ll never forget wishing I had not chosen Chi O and feeling like I wasted my chance at a great Greek life experience because I was completely ostracized for dating a fellow LSU Tiger who happened to be Black,” the anonymous alumna wrote.
Guillory said Greek Life was not previously aware of the allegations listed on the Pledge Against Racism website.
“Anonymous comments make it very difficult to allow for an organization to respond to allegations or incidents,” Guillory said.
Terrell said more collaborative events like Step Up or Step Aside between PHC, IFC and NPHC would offer white members exposure to the struggles of people of color and help unify the councils.
“It would be important to do collaborative events with NPHC,” Terrell said. “[In the future], PHC could share more about the history of stepping. It’s not just a big competition between sororities. This is something created by Black culture.”
Terrell said she hopes the future of Greek Life can improve.
“Actions do speak louder than words,” Terrell said. “We can’t say we’re accepting and not have the action behind it. Educate yourself. Our world is really changing. Let’s make our legacy a better, a bigger imprint than the past.”