By Deepa SeetharamanThe Daily Northwestern

Weinberg sophomore Courtney Sharpe has always felt caught between two worlds.

Growing up in a mostly white Houston suburb, she became accustomed to being one of the few black students in her classes and never found a place in the black community. So when she came to Northwestern, joining Kappa Kappa Gamma, a predominantly white sorority, was an easy transition.

Still, there are times when Sharpe, who was raised by her grandmother, a former sharecropper, longs for friends in her sorority who can share her background. And while she knows she can find that in NU’s black community, she fears not being accepted there.

“I guess in most aspects of my life, I’ve been the outlier,” Sharpe said.

Elements of Sharpe’s experience resonate with other black students in NU’s historically white Greek system. For black students who grew up in predominantly white areas, NU’s Greek system seems like a natural environment.

But membership still brings challenges, from finding cultural commonalities with members of the house to connecting with the black community. Today, members of both traditionally white and historically black chapters are taking steps toward healing the divide that separates the two worlds.

“Although these organizations no longer engage in overt rejection of candidates based on race, many did in the past and, thus, have a history of such racial – as well as ethnic – exclusion,” psychology Prof. Jennifer Richeson said in an e-mail. “Such a history is very hard to overcome, even if all of the current members would never think of engaging in such racial exclusion.”

Minorities were not allowed in the Panhellenic Association and the Interfraternity Council until 1961. An organization called Greeks Against Discrimination, founded by a sorority that is no longer on NU’s campus, Alpha Omicron Pi, lobbied for integration.

A non-discrimination policy designed to encourage minority students to pledge fraternities and sororities passed that year, but it was largely ineffective. By 1967, there were just nine black men and two black women in mainstream Greek life.

Greek officials said the number of black students remains low today in IFC and Panhel, which make up the bulk of Greek life on campus. Representatives from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, who were contacted by e-mail, phone and approached in person for this story, said they don’t track the number of black students in Panhel and IFC. They declined to comment further.

But students say the reasons for small numbers are more a matter of comfort and logistics than overt racism.

“I don’t think people are looking to be divided,” said Weinberg senior Alex Lofton, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “There is some sort of barrier that’s less malicious and more about how they grew up.”

‘A Character Thing’

Some students say the low number of black students at NU is the primary reason for the small number of black members in traditional Greek life. Black students make up less than 6 percent of NU’s freshman class. By comparison, Asians make up nearly 23 percent and Latino students are about 9 percent. For many black students in Panhel and IFC, these demographics are familiar.

“I got used to being the only black girl in my grade,” said Communication senior Chanelle Doryumu, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma who attended a Catholic school in Princeton, N.J.

Doryumu said her immersion in a predominantly white neighborhood might have helped her integrate into the house, but that’s not what kept her there. Since joining, Doryumu has held several leadership positions, including vice president of public relations.

“Kappa is diverse,” Doryumu said. “I don’t think diversity is a race thing – it’s a character thing.”

For Weinberg sophomore Dre Collier, the decision to join an IFC group was based on proximity and ease. Collier joined Delta Tau Delta last year after meeting members who lived in his freshman-year dorm, Bobb Hall.

Race was not a factor, Collier said. Although there are only a handful of other black students, Collier said he doesn’t feel a cultural disconnect with other members.

Being part of a mostly white organization is “normal if you grew up in an upper-middle class society,” Collier said.

“That’s the way the other (black) guys (in Delt) grew up,” he said. “Our styles don’t conflict.”

Insurmountable Obstacles

Still, some say there are significant challenges to being one of the few black members in a group of predominantly white students.

Racial issues rarely ruffle Doryumu, who describes herself as open and willing to talk about them. But she said she is annoyed by students who sometimes confuse her with friend and Communication senior Onyi Odueze, a former member of Kappa Alpha Theta, at bars and Greek events. The two met during recruitment their freshman year and remain friends.

“People ask, ‘Are you the one in Kappa or the one in Theta?'” Doryumu said. “I chalk it up to them being drunk or being stupid.”

Some students say the difficulty lies in connecting culturally to members of their Greek houses. This cultural chasm is one of the main reasons Odueze eventually deactivated from her sorority. Odueze joined Theta during her freshman year to meet new friends and have a good time, but she never looked at her sorority as a defining mark.

“Some (join houses) because they want an identity,” Odueze said. “I came to college pretty much knowing myself. I’m Nigerian first and foremost.”

Odueze was raised near San Francisco, but she is quick to point out that she is a first-generation immigrant from Nigeria. Her childhood summers are filled with memories of visiting her family there, playing soccer and shopping.

Odueze went to a predominantly white boarding school, so it didn’t bother her that she was one of few black students in her house.

Still, there were strident divisions between her values and those of other members. She described her outlook on life as distinctly Nigerian and communal, in contrast with the “live in the moment” mentality shared by some of her peers.

“Most of the girls in Theta don’t have the same upbringing as myself,” Odueze said. “Those are the differences I have put as the foundation of my identity. Those differences you cannot overcome.”

Minority within a minority

Some non-black members of mainstream Greek houses say they would like to see more diversity in their organizations.

“Next year there won’t be any black women in my chapter,” said SESP senior Jen Leyton, former president of Delta Delta Delta. “We should make our organization appealing to all groups and all women.”

Racism is not what keeps black students from IFC houses, said Medill senior Andy Shlensky, former IFC president and recruitment chair of Zeta Beta Tau.

“I’ve never heard of it happening that a black student is rushing a house and doesn’t get in because he’s black,” Shlensky said. “Diversifying the house is something that’s always been talked about, but I guess it falls a little short. We wish we could do a better job, and we’d love to be able to do a better job.”

Because NU is a predominantly white campus, most minority students are “numerical minorities, if not tokens, in many other aspects of college life,” said Richeson, who won a MacArthur grant in September for her work on race relations. “They may choose to arrange their social lives differently.”

Black students also may feel uncomfortable being the spokesperson for their entire race or ethnicity, Richeson said.

“This type of spotlight is certainly likely to make people feel uncomfortable on at least some occasions, given that they are not afforded the same opportunity as other individuals in the environment to simply be themselves,” she said.

Leyton said it’s important to develop closer relationships with the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which represents historically black Greek o
rganizations. Since Spring Quarter 2006, through a program called “Bridging the Gap,” leaders of every chapter have attempted to overcome their differences by forging friendships.

The stronger the connections are between members of different councils, the more likely black men and women will consider joining Panhel and IFC, Leyton said.

“They wouldn’t be distancing themselves from an NPHC group,” Leyton said. “The more we know each other and the more highly we think of each other, the easier it is to make a decision that won’t have long, negative implications.”

But for blacks in mainstream Greek life, it is easy to feel like a minority among other black students, particularly those in the NPHC groups.

“It’s not a clash on an individual basis,” said Doryumu. “You join a historically black sorority, you hang out with them. There’s a separation because of who you’re associated with.”

Collier said, for him, historically black fraternities were less accessible than mainstream Greek houses.

“I was never approached by (black Greek leaders),” Collier said. “I went down one path and they saw me as a lost cause. That community is very closed. It’s more based on a network.”

The divisions are not intentional, but a matter of logistics, said Weinberg junior Adrienne Williams, the NPHC university liaison and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. She said outreach is more difficult because of the smaller size of NPHC houses, which can be as few as five members, compared with Panhel or IFC chapters, which can have more than 100.

She said this small size makes for a close-knit community. The groups take on a familial role for some students, many of whom have grown up wanting to be a part of these organizations.

“It’s not purposefully separating ourselves from the community,” Williams said.

Sharpe said she hadn’t heard much about the NPHC groups before coming to campus. This year, she found out that her father belonged to a historically black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, and her grandmother and aunt belonged to Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically black sorority.

She said if she had known more about these houses, she would have deferred rush until her sophomore year to consider her options. Perhaps if she had joined a black sorority, she said, she would have found a membership in the black community that has eluded her all these years.

“I was so used to being a minority that I didn’t know how to be (part of) a majority,” Sharpe said. “I don’t feel like I can just arrive.”

Reach Deepa Seetharaman at [email protected].