Opinion: Black fraternities and sororities on campus help attract prospective Black students to UO and help retention rates of our current Black student population.
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Black Greek life is an essential part of Black culture in our country. Like many identity-based organizations, these Black fraternities and sororities were created out of necessity in the early 1900s by Black students attending universities as they weren’t allowed to join the existing Greek life at the time.
Built on principles of Black unity and pride, the Divine Nine — which includes the founding five Black fraternities and four sororities — was built. In addition to creating their own space, the overall goal of these organizations was to amplify Black voices on campus while also connecting them to professional and collegiate resources and supporting one another.
Here at the University of Oregon, there are two Black sororities on campus: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. along with this year’s return of the Black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. This recent reinstatement of Kappa Alpha Psi further highlights how essential these Black Greek organizations are to the UO community.
Damien Pitts, the academic adviser and diversity initiatives specialist in the Lundquist College of Business, is a Kappa Alpha Psi alumni. He believes the inclusion of more Black fraternities and sororities on campus will help attract prospective Black students to UO and help retention rates of our current Black student population.
The University of Oregon is by no means diverse, and with Black students making up only 3% of the student population these multicultural organizations are essential to our campus.
Lou Luellen, one of the two current members of the newly reinstated Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, believes in the importance of his organization.
“I feel that being able to have our fraternity on a predominantly White campus allows for more people of color to have something they can relate to,” Luellen said. “It’s hard to feel like you fit in when everyone around you looks different, speaks different and can’t relate to you. Hopefully, with Kappa Alpha Psi on campus we can help more people of color connect and feel secure here.”
Black Greek life provides a necessary cultural safe space on campus that also expands into the more social aspects of university life. Pitts said even if students don’t directly join the fraternities, they still throw parties and put on social events such as step shows and community service that can attract students of color on campus.
While White Greek life heavily dominates the college party scene at predominately white institutions like UO, this scene often doesn’t culturally appeal to students of color. In college, everyone deserves a place to be social and party, free of having to worry about the burdens that cultural differences and code-switching can impose.
On top of providing this cultural safe space for Black students, Black Greek life has had undeniably great success in producing individuals who demonstrate Black excellence in our country. With Divine Nine alumni including the likes of prominent Black figures such as Mae Jemison, Maya Angelou and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we can’t ignore the positive impact these organizations have on Black students.
Overall, with the Black Greek life on our campus on the rise, we must all be more cognizant of the importance these groups hold. As a university, we should all strive for the goal of boosting diversity and inclusion, and by supporting these organizations we will move further towards that goal.
