did y'all know this????
by: Lex
I just heard that sometime in the early 2000s or something, Gamma Phi accepted the first two African American girls into a Panhellenic sorority in Bama's history. At the time they were a good sorority rated in the upper middle. Then there was such a backlash that it made everyone critical of Gamma Phi -- guys refused to do swaps, new pnms refused to join, etc. The Machine made sure they were almost driven away from Bama Greek. The next African American pnms were given bids in 2013 --- 10 years later.
It made me ashamed of how we all treated African American pnms in the past and how we continue to treat Gamma Phi today. I keep seeing them listed at the bottom which is certainly not accurate.
Comment#2 by: Gradgirl
Ok freshman, thanks for your failed attempt at trying to fill us in. At least get the story right if your going to repeat old fake news. gamma phi pledged a few pmns that happened black that year and the house was still pretty new on campus .No, they weren’t “higher” ranked then and then the pmns pledgeship caused them to “drop”, and yes people still had swaps with them. Geez, stop trying to rehash some old rumor that is not even true. Hope you are enjoying your first days of college. Try to stick to the books instead of gossiping about some old washed up false story.
by: SureAug 23, 2019 2:04:44 AM
What is so bold about assuming someone commenting on GR goes to UA? It is not bold, but reasonable. If you don’t, then stop obsessing over us and unintentionally spreading rumors. However, we all know you in fact go to UA and are a freshman. Anyways, I cleared up the gamma phi story for you, so now you can go around campus with confidence knowing that you know what happened. In all sincerity, welcome UA and RTR
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#3 by: Here
This is super old news, but here are the facts since both posts have some wild inaccuracies.
Gamma Phi pledged an AA PNM in 2003, the first at UA to join a “white” sorority. They were not upper middle, they had only been on campus about 14 years at the time. After this they were shut out by most of the other sororities and fraternities. They lost about half their members (some because of the fallout, some because of the circumstances) as well as a lot of alumnae support. Several gphis did believe the pledge was given a bid outside of normal voting practices and wrote an editorial for the crimson white that gphi’s internationals eventually refuted. It took them until almost 2010 to meet quota again during rush.
The big rumor that accompanies the facts: Gphi pledged the PNM because the machine decided it was time to desegregate and promised Gphi a spot if they did (most likely true). Obviously this did not happen and it took them over a decade to recover from the treatment they received. What is unclear is why the machine apparently changed their minds and ostracized Gphi for doing what they asked.
The whole thing is massively embarrassing for everyone but gamma phi. Basically the only reason they survived is because RFM was introduced at the same time this happened.
by: 2centsAug 23, 2019 5:50:42 AM
Most likely because they saw the backlash, so imagine if they had given GPhi a spot? They'd be faced with the backlash by association
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by: AlsoAug 23, 2019 6:42:11 PM
The other AA who got a bid in 2000 was biracial. She didn't look obviously black, and a lot of people assumed that she was Latina, Italian, Middle Eastern, etc. It wasn't that she lied or tried to pass for white—it just never occurred to most people. (GPhi knew, obviously, and it was a non-issue.)
She didn't make any kind of announcement when she decided to rush—she just did it. She only went public about it because the Melody Twilley controversy was a hot story at the time and the narrative in the media was that no black woman had ever successfully rushed NPC at Bama before.
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by: AndAug 23, 2019 6:50:09 PM
The AA PNM who got a bid in 2003 checked all the boxes—beautiful, smart, involved, won an award at GPhi's national convention—but eventually she resigned because she got sick of being "the black Gamma Phi." People treated her like she had landed from Mars. She could barely enjoy bid day because of the ridiculous media attention.
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by: ..Aug 24, 2019 10:10:02 AM
Yeah, this is closer to the truth. G Phi was struggling before this happened. This was before RFM, so it was a lot harder for “lower tier” sororities to make quota. And UA was a different place with a lot more tradition, a lot fewer OOS students, and a lot more division between New Row and Old Row than there is today. Most of the newer sororities hadn’t colonized yet, SK and Alpha Xi Delta had already been forced to close because of low numbers, and SDT has just stopped doing formal recruitment because they didn’t have the numbers anymore. It was a rough time to be a lower-tier sorority, and G Phi and Theta felt pretty alone out there.
I know a bunch of Gamma Phis who were there when this happened, including some officers. I don’t know if the Machine offered them membership, but I know none of them would have taken the offer seriously if they had. Like I said, it was a different time with a lot more tension between sororities, and they didn’t trust the Machine sororities at all. They wouldn’t have trusted the Machine to hold up their end of the bargain. And I know they really did like the PNM; they didn’t take her just to prove some kind of point.
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by: @HereAug 24, 2019 10:40:49 AM
SDT was really struggling by then, but they didn't lose their house until (I think) 2005 or 2006.
SK surrendered their charter because of internal drama. Not sure what it was, but they weren't shut down by their national for numbers (even though they weren't good).
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by: LexAug 23, 2019 1:50:01 AM
Bold of you to assume I am in college there.
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