In 2013, Alpha Gamma Delta senior Melanie Gotz made national headlines when she revealed that sorority hopefuls were being cut from rush based on race. Her allegations shed light on the entrenched segregation within the University of Alabama’s Greek system — a system that, in over 100 years, had extended a bid to just one Black woman. Read Abbey and Matt’s reporting: https://thecrimsonwhite.com/16498/news/the-final-barrier-50-years-later-segregation-still-exists/ For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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I want to take you to a scene in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Men are in Confederate uniforms, women in antebellum hoop skirts. They're marching through the streets of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This isn't a scene from the Civil War. This is Old South, an annual parade at the University of Alabama. It's hosted by one of the fraternities. Noticeably absent from the parade are any Black men or women.
Because at the time of this scene, fraternities and sororities remain segregated at the university. The year? It's 2013. I'm Margo Gray. This week on Campus Files, the University of Alabama reckons with its segregated sorority system. So I am from Alabama and went to University of Alabama from 2010 to 2014. This is Abby Crane. She's a third-generation University of Alabama student.
Really not a whole lot went into choosing my school. My dad went to Alabama and my grandfather on my mom's side went to Alabama.
Abby grew up watching Alabama football, which has a nearly religious following. Ask anyone at Alabama and they'll tell you that football is one of the two dominant forces on campus, the other being Greek life. Alabama actually has the largest Greek system of any university in the country, with over 12,000 members.
To put that in perspective, Alabama has more Greek members than Notre Dame has students. I want to say it's like 25 to 30 percent of the total student population, which honestly is less than you would imagine, but it's just so visible. The sorority houses are right across the street from the stadium. The fraternity houses are the first thing you see when you drive into Tuscaloosa on campus.
They're these huge antebellum-esque houses, like the visibility of them kind of shows the weight we put into it. The fraternity and sorority houses look more like mansions. Many of them have Greek columns, grand staircases, and crystal chandeliers. They cost millions of dollars to maintain.
It's a literal manifestation of the worth we put into Greek life. The social currency of Greek life was a really big deal. And I remember as a freshman, they'd be like, are you in a sorority? What sorority are you in? Like, that's immediately what they ask you. And like, there's an assessment someone can make from what sorority you're a part of.
The competition to get into one of these sororities is intense. Sorority recruitment, also known as RUSH, starts before freshman year even begins.
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