IFC and PHC must diversify their membership
To many USC students, it’s a familiar image.
Friday night on the Row. EDM spills onto the street. Girls crowd the sidewalk outside some fraternity house. Inside, fraternity boys patrol the waters; under the strobing lights, they cut paths like blonde, blue-eyed sharks. Apparently, this is how one unwinds after a long week of philanthropy and academic excellence.
According to USC’s Interfraternity Council website, “The fraternity and sorority community at USC exemplifies what Greek organizations should be.” Oh, the irony.
Although many of USC’s fraternities and sororities have every right to be proud of their successes — both on the individual and collective level — it’s impossible to overlook the general atmosphere of homogeneity that hangs cloudlike over the University’s Greek system.
Put simply, USC’s Greek system is like a mullet — business in the front, party in the back and Caucasian all over.
The University’s Greek life is composed of more than 50 recognized chapters grouped into five classifications: the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Interfraternity Council, Asian Greek Council, Multicultural Greek Council and the Panhellenic Council. Of those, three councils have a focus on underrepresented communities: NPHC, AGC and MGC. However, IFC and PHC oversee far more chapters and currently dominate the 28th Street real estate.
And if this year’s promotional videos are representative of the organizations, the chapters of IFC and PHC are also predominantly white. A walk down the Row confirms as much. Of all the houses, there’s not one cultural fraternity or sorority to be seen.
Such a monopoly of space is unsurprising given the inherently elitist nature of Greek life. To be a member of one of USC’s PHC sororities, semester fees range from $1,858 to $5,899. For the IFC, summarized fees aren’t provided, but Tau Kappa Epsilon reports its semester fees as between $2,600 and $7,200.
Although both the PHC and IFC offer partial scholarships — for amounts between $500 and $1,000 — the steep expenses immediately deprive students from more diverse socioeconomic backgrounds of the opportunities promised by these Greek organizations.
Given greater membership and high fees, it’s clear that IFC and PHC chapters are receiving more funding. It’s used for grounds upkeep, formal events, group trips and weekly parties — with such an apparent abundance of time and money, why can’t a portion be invested into the recruitment of economically and ethnically diverse members?
This isn’t a revolutionary idea. And one must not underestimate the intelligence of IFC and PHC members — after all, they’re still ranked No. 22 university by U.S. News and World Report.
The fraternities and sororities of IFC and PHC must take initiative to diversify their memberships. As it stands, the lack of ethnic diversity exacerbates the general preconception of white privilege and elitism attached to Greek organizations and USC in general.
The Row is the public face of the University’s Greek life — what message does such a pale complexion give, if not exclusion?