I walk into a house party, and immediately I’m hit with a familiar cloud of fruit scented vapor as I hear from the other side of the room, “sick vape tricks bro!” The smell of sweated out booze lingers in the air as I am approached by Brad — not the Brad who drives the red jeep and oh so impressively chugs beer faster than anyone in Sigma Chi — but the Brad who owns the BMW and wears clothes like he’s anticipating a sophisticated boat trip at any moment. Both are white, both are rich and both are in frats. I look among the crowd of white bobbling heads to find my friends. “Wait,” I stop to wonder, “Why is everyone here white?”
I am a Caucasian, blonde, fit-figured girl — a great representation of the majority of girls in sororities. Without fail, every woman I introduce myself to at these kinds of parties either asks or simply assumes I’m in a house. “Why yes,” I think to myself, “I am in a house right now. I have to live somewhere.” But that isn’t what they mean. They mean to ask whether I live in a sorority house. When I tell them I don’t they immediately tell me that I should join Chi Delta Gamma Gamma Omega 300 because I’d totally fit in. I ask myself, “Would this happen so frequently to me if I were a different race?”
Judging from the sorority pictures and videos I have seen, I can gather that I probably wouldn’t be confronted with this exhausted question as much if I wasn’t white. When looking at a “chapter’s” group pictures, consisting of about 100-150 men or women, its literally a sea of white, with a few specs of brown (brunette hair, that is).
I did some research and found that according to Lawrence Ross, author of “Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses,” “Greek organizations resisted class and race diversity. Frats were a way for white upper-class men to separate themselves from an increasingly diverse student population.” Ross goes on to explain that, “The DNA of these organizations, if you go back, [were] predominantly white fraternities.”
I’m not saying that this is necessarily the members’ faults whatsoever, especially today. I don’t think that they are all actually racist and intentionally choose only white people to join their houses, but it is definitely a question that should have an answer. It may simply be due to a manifestation of tradition that we have just allowed to continually transpire, possibly without realizing it. Or maybe it’s the amount of diversity in the university overall, and the lack of desire in minorities to engage in fraternities and sororities.
Overall, though, I think something that definitely has do with the lack of diversity is the idea of a “legacy.” Older generations of sororities and fraternity members are all white, and if you are considered a “legacy,” you are more likely to get admitted, therefore creating a stronger white population. I believe that it is the conventional culture and history behind them that is the cause of the lack of diversity in sororities and frats. While that doesn’t make it right, recognition of the problem is a good starting point for improving it down the road.
A Minority Woman • Apr 6, 2022 at 10:33 pm
Kind of funny how the people who would be so angered over this article are either a) in a sorority/fraternity, or b) white. While I recognize there are Greek life organizations specifically for minorities, historically speaking, minorities have rarely been in the position to be inducted into Greek life. It’s important to note that, demographically, minority groups have been kept away from these opportunities because of a lack of resources given to us–economically and socially. And this basically all boils down to systemic oppression and structural racism whether white people want to admit it or not. Although a predominantly-white organization may not be racist (which is a little contradictory for me to say), it is still built upon the structural racism that exists in this country.
In the end, the big sororities and fraternities have a certain “look.” If you aren’t white, blonde, or fit, odds of you getting in are slim. Usually, you’ll see a minority here and there, and in that sense, it feels as if they are being used to prove that, “No, we aren’t racist! We have one single black sister!”
The people in this comment section are ridiculous and further proof that we aren’t going to be progressing any time soon. No matter where you live and what the diversity statistics look like, Greek life is going to be a sea of white. I’m glad that you, Brook, as a white person, have acknowledged the questions that need to be raised about this.
Amy Huynh • Sep 22, 2017 at 8:40 am
Hey I’m brown and I am in a sorority. We are all not white. Thanks. 🙂
Chi Delta Gamma Gamma Omega 300 Member • Sep 22, 2017 at 1:39 am
Is this supposed to be satire??? If so, you’ve done a wonderful job. If you meant to post a legitimate story that is full of accurate, truthful articles and provokes any sort of positivity… then you basically failed.
Regardless, we here at Chi Delta Gamma Gamma would love to extend an invite for you to join. You mentioned that you were blonde and white, which are the top qualities we look for in our members. (This is Satire sweetheart).
Samantha • Sep 21, 2017 at 10:28 pm
Do you even Greek?
Brad (BMW) • Sep 21, 2017 at 5:39 pm
But babe, after driving you home that night you said your Dad just got the newest model and wanted to drag race it down little cottonwood sometime.
Brandon • Sep 21, 2017 at 5:17 pm
This may be the worst article I have ever read. Maybe consider if the article you are writing serves any purpose to anyone. If this is satire, then it’s god awful. If it’s meant to be serious, it’s even worse. Maybe pursue a career in something else because writing about a topic you have zero knowledge in is exactly the type of work that needs to disappear within the digital media world. What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Brad (Red Jeep) • Sep 21, 2017 at 4:52 pm
Saddened to hear you were unimpressed with the Sigma Chi* party experience. Should you visit again, please take a moment to meet my pledge brothers from Brazil and the Middle East. I’d also like to thank you for adding to the immense scrutiny the Greek system faces already. We owe much of it to unthoughtful and rushed appraisals such as this one.
Regardless, we hope you return to the Sig house so you may have the opportunity to perceive the true nature of our organization.
Mark • Sep 21, 2017 at 4:37 pm
This is one of the most asinine and poorly-written critiques of Greek life I’ve ever seen. There are plenty of legitimate issues with Greek life that could be examined and improved upon for people currently in fraternities and sororities, as well as those thinking about joining. However, the author’s credibility instantly went out the window when they recounted a made-up story to make frat guys sound like rich douchebags. No one with an IQ above 80 has ever said the phrase “Sick vape tricks bro!” with any degree of seriousness, let alone at a fraternity house party where vaping is overwhelmingly frowned upon. Disregarding the author’s condescending nicknames for Greek organizations, there is actually a national multi-cultural fraternity called Omega Delta Phi, which has a chapter at the U of U, that is focused on engaging minorities in Greek life. There is also a sorority called Kappa Delta Chi dedicated to the same purpose. There are numerous other houses that specifically recruit Jewish, black, and other minority populations at other schools. Dear author, do more research, meet more Greeks that aren’t rich white people (which isn’t difficult), and write about events that actually happened, instead of making up anecdotes to make yourself sound better.
Jeff • Sep 21, 2017 at 4:03 pm
Hats off for this! I’m glad your extensive research for this piece (a 2 minute conversation with Brad in a haze of vape clouds) lead you to your misinformed conclusion. A true masterpiece of journalism.
Glen • Sep 21, 2017 at 1:27 pm
By and large, fraternities despise vaping and consider people who do vape to be abhorrent “geeds.”
Ben Berger • Sep 21, 2017 at 1:23 pm
The ethnic composition of fraternities and sororities at the University of Utah reflects the compositions of the University, which reflects the composition of the state. There is no racism at play here – it is simply the byproduct of the relatively homogenous Utah population.
Kevin • Sep 21, 2017 at 5:48 pm
Local, white, Utah girl complains about the demographics of a student organization that is part of her 70% white school, in her 90% white state, as a means to prove to her one ethnic friend who reads the chronicle that she herself isn’t racist. Smh.
Brad • May 26, 2019 at 1:33 pm
I mean, for Utah you might be right. But what about other frats and sororities around America? Like in Florida or even in the south like Alabama or Mississippi. They’re mainly white, even in heavily black populated states/schools… admit it, it’s all about pseudo-elitism. It’s not like these people do a great job of concealing it.