TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
The University of Alabama, a landmark in the fight over racial segregation, is increasingly becoming a cultural melting pot — in the very Greek system where none of the all-White fraternities or sororities accepted a Black for decades.
Phi Iota Alpha has established itself as the first Latino-based fraternity on campus and Sigma Lambda Beta seeks to be the first multicultural fraternity in the state. This is just two years after Alpha Delta Sigma and Delta Xi Phi, two racially integrated sororities, were established.
“I feel it brings a lot more diversity to the campus,” said Gibran “B.B.” Hernandez, president of the group seeking to form Sigma Lambda Beta. “It’ll bring a lot more cultural awareness, which is what (the university) is seeking.”
Racial segregation in the Greek system at the university — where Gov. George Wallace tried to block the enrollment of two Black students in his 1963 “stand in the schoolhouse door” — drew wide notice in 2000 and 2001 when Melody Twilley, a Black honors student, was rejected by all of the university’s White sororities.
That helped forge the creation of Alpha Delta Sigma, a local sorority that describes itself as “diversity-based,” in 2003. That same year Delta Xi Phi, a national sorority whose mission is to “increase multicultural awareness,” was established.
“We’re in the middle of making a lot of changes in our Greek organizations,” said Tim Hebson, associate dean of students. “We’re really excited about where we’re heading.”
