Panhellenic’s DEI work has a long way to go

Note: Interviewees for this article were granted anonymity under fear of retaliation from their peers; they have been given pseudonyms and their chapters are not specified.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the globe in the summer of 2020, the governing body of ten of USC’s sororities, the Panhellenic Council, made a promise to its members “to take unified and direct action in beginning their DEI efforts … to create long-lasting change.”

Despite this Community Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, over two years later, USC’s Panhellenic sororities still seem to be breeding grounds for racial discrimination.

A few current and former members of Panhellenic, whose names have been changed due to privacy concerns, spoke to the Daily Trojan about their experiences. 

Isabel, a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said that while she has seen her sorority do more DEI work recently, she did not see other houses doing the same.

“It’s unfortunate that [my house’s DEI chairs] are taking it on all [by] themselves and other houses are not doing the same because they’re not pressured or required by Panhellenic,” Isabel said.

And yet, according to Panhellenic’s DEI plan, the other houses should be doing that same work. Instead of enforcing their plan, Panhellenic seems to be allowing lapses in progress.

This absence of progress could be because of Panhellenic’s lack of commitment toward their DEI initiative: The council’s website, which includes an Accountability Tracker, says that it was last updated on “Tuesday, December 1st and will be updated monthly.” What year this “December 1st” occurred is not listed. The data on the Accountability Tracker does not include any date more recent than April 4, 2022, which is to say that the site is clearly not being updated monthly.

Alyssa, a sophomore majoring in international relations and global business who identifies as a Black woman, said that there is an unspoken desire for whiteness within Panhellenic, something that is especially evident in its recruitment practices.

“A lot of times those white Newport girls are the priorities,” Alyssa said. “They’re the girls that you see everyone kind of trying to go after during the rush process. Every house kind of wants them.”

During the rush process, Isabel said that members of color are frequently paired with potential members of the same racial or ethnic community despite lacking any other similarities. This practice not only reduces these people to their racial identity but serves to present a certain image of diversity that doesn’t necessarily exist.

Bella, a junior majoring in political science on the pre-law track who identifies as African American, said that she was offered a bid via Instagram by the president of her sorority who was a fellow person of color, causing her to believe that her house was one of the more diverse houses and to feel more comfortable joining.

In reality, Bella said that the lack of other Black women in her sorority led to an interaction in which someone called her by the name of the only other “dark skinned Black member” in her house.

Alyssa had a similar experience, which happened after she took a photo with a girl in her sorority one night. 

“A couple weeks later [the girl] sent the picture to my friend, who also happens to be Black, and she was like, ‘We had so much fun that night!’ and then my friend was like, ‘That’s not me,’” Alyssa said.

Isabel, who is half white and half Puerto Rican, identifies as Latina but said she acknowledges that she is white passing and believes that has had an impact on her fitting in with Greek life.

“I know for a fact that they treat me one way but as soon as it would be Hispanic Heritage Month they’d look through the roster and call on me to make a statement,” Isabel said.

Victoria, a junior majoring in business administration who identifies as an Asian woman, said that this representation was a barrier to her joining Greek life.

“I remember when I was thinking of possibly rushing, I was looking at all the accounts and their new [pledge classes] and trying to count how many diverse or people of color there were,” she said.

Alyssa and Bella expressed that they did not regret their decisions to join sororities because they’ve ended up making many friends there. For Victoria, the friends she made were not enough to keep her involved.

“It just seemed so insanely superficial,” she said. “I feel like being a part of it went against my morals … Especially after the sexual assault[s at Sigma Nu], I cannot stand for a sorority that continues to be a part of these events, go out, complain in the group chat about frats being shut down — like how can I stand here and be a part of this? It just goes against everything I believe in.”

For those who feel like Victoria, maybe nothing can be done to be convinced to join Panhellenic. But for others, there needs to be more than just mandatory presentations, which, Bella said, cause members to “associate the boring events with DEI.”

Panhellenic’s sororities must actively enforce their DEI initiatives and recruit people of color because of who they are and the value they add to these jaded institutions, not just as tokens of progress.