Blocked Initiation
Alpha Gamma Delta and Pi Beta Phi at the University of Alabama in 2013 blocked two African-American women who seemed to be perfect candidates from participating in the pledge process to join the sororities — in at least one case because some alumni members reportedly threatened to cut off funding if they accepted a Black pledge. Alabama Circuit Judge John England Jr., who is Black and sits on the school’s board of trustees, told USA Today that he expressed concerns to university president Judy Bonner and chancellor Robert Witt after learning that his step-granddaughter had been turned down by all 16 white sororities.
Mexican Disrespect
At Penn State in 2012, the above photo was leaked of the Chi Omega sorority sisters posing with sombreros, mustaches and ponchos, holding up cardboard signs with the messages: “Will mow lawn for weed + beer” and “I don’t cut grass, I smoke it.” The chapter was eventually disbanded by its national organization in early 2014.
