Greek Life Annual Report

One of the most influential features of DePauw’s campus is Greek life. Historically Greek life is known for being made up of predominantly white middle class men. Colleges around the US have significantly diversified their student body, Greek life however has not. When colleges began to diversify their student body, many White Greek Life Organizations (WGLO) incorporated racially exclusionary policies into their constitutions, which became their “hallmarks” (Clawson 1989:11). While WGLO’s no longer have official constitutions that prohibit students of a certain race to join their organizations, there are still many actions of WGLO members that purposely restrict non-whites from joining their organization. At many of the larger schools …show more content…
On this campus if one decides to go Greek they immediately create a new friend group, and in the case for most people, hang out exclusively with members of their fraternity or sorority. While this is not a bad thing necessarily, it creates a large separation socially between whites and non-whites. According to the 2014-2015 DePauw Fraternity & Sorority Life Annual Report, 83% of all Caucasian students are in a Greek organization totaling 1,248, yet only 40% of African American students did accumulating to a miniscule 49. With the purpose of uniting and serve the needs and wants of culturally diverse Greek-Lettered organizations, there was the establishment of the Multicultural Greek Council, which is compromised of two Latina/Multicultural women’s and a Latino/Multicultural men’s organization (DePauw Fraternity & Sorority Life Annual Report). Some may view this as a step in the right direction to diversify Greek life, however one may also argue that this just further separates whites from non-whites thus potentially creating a negative racial climate. When discussing the racial climate on campus many students claimed that the Greek housing units are one of the main contributors to …show more content…
For many it is an eye opening experience as you branch out of your comfort zone. A sophomore involved in Greek life claimed that, “The freshmen dorm experience allowed me to become more open minded and create a sense of cultural awareness”. Many other students had similar outtakes on their first year residence experiences, however almost everyone I spoke with agreed that everything changes your sophomore year because of Greek life housing. Of the total student population 43% of men live in Fraternity housing, while 32% of women live in sororities (DePauw Website). An African American student who was not involved in Greek life felt that this plays a significant role in shaping the racial climate. He claimed that because so many people, almost all of which are white, live in a Fraternity or Sorority house it creates a clear barrier between whites and non-whites on campus. A recently graduated African American who was in a Fraternity at DePauw agreed that Greek housing creates a color line barrier, however he said that in order to improve the racial climate more men and women of color must go Greek. In Matthew Hughey’s, A Paradox of Participation: Nonwhites in White Sororities and Fraternities, he says that more non-whites need to not only go Greek but, “particularly the students of color who traversed the fraternal color

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