It is no secret that The University of Alabama Greek system is now enduring the third national news-airing scandal in three years, all of which seemed to have occurred right after sorority recruitment. But why? Other universities are certainly not immune to controversy in their Greek system making national news. Yet The University of Alabama seems to repeatedly be a target for a story. First the national spotlight focused on racial barriers in our Greek system, then a Snapchat allegedly sent by a Chi Omega member containing a racial slur, and now here we are under scrutinization for what was meant to be a fun sorority recruitment video released by Alpha Phi. I say “we” because I do believe when one sorority or fraternity is under fire, it reflects on the entire Greek system and even the campus as a whole.
Again I ask, why us? Is it because we have one of the largest Greek systems in the country, making us a natural target? Is it because we truly have brought the negative attention on ourselves through our actions? Or is it because the media have made it a new tradition to exploit our Greek life for their revenue? I tend to think it is a combination of the last two. Our university and Greek system have faced racial barriers and issues, no doubt. I do not think the national media were wrong in bringing attention to racial controversies in our Greek system in previous years. But I do not think that the Alpha Phi video was meant to appear racially exclusive or demeaning to women for that matter. To me, it did not differ much from every other sorority recruitment video, so I was surprised when it became an issue at all.
Why did it raise an issue? “Why us?” I personally believe the writer of the article critiquing the Alpha Phi video, AL.com guest writer A.L. Bailey, saw an opportunity to make a national news story and took it. The article could have been written on an array of sorority videos; Alpha Phi was not entering unchartered territory in releasing a promotional sorority video featuring hair-tossing, swimsuit-wearing young women.
Yet, this particular video was chosen. Was it picked in hopes that the article criticizing it would draw extra attention because it was focusing on yet another problem with the UA Greek system? I certainly think so.
To answer the question of whether we bring these media storms on ourselves or whether we are simply victims of a story, this time it is not ourselves we should blame. A story on our campus concerning our Greek life, supposedly doing something wrong, makes for a successful news piece, and unfortunately journalists have tuned in to that.
Unfortunately as the Greek system here continues to grow, the amount of attention it attracts will most likely grow as well. Alpha Phi, I commend you for handling this situation with respectability and grace. I encourage the rest of the school to follow.
Anna Wood is a sophomore majoring in advertising. Her column runs biweekly on Mondays.
