Maybe having a Homecoming Queen shows that UA has come further on LGBTQ than I had thought! 
I think it is probable that the Huffington Postâs source is the author of this article. http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/university_of_alabama_must_add.html
Reading it and other info on line, I am less convinced that this is about racism. Lindsay is the president of BLEND, the organization which nominated her. She is also the girlfriend of Spillers, which is why her sorority seems to have endorsed him, at least unofficially.
The machine always nominates a homecoming queen candidate. http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2011/11/sga-executive-speaks-out-against-machine It did so this year. Telling the sorority it needs to shape up and back its candidate isnât really about the fact Lindsay is running. I think this article gets it right. http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2015/10/believe-it-or-not-a-sorority-horror-story
There also seems to be a back story for the Machine candidate. That candidate has been a leader on campus.https://â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â /in/kjkatsafanas Sheâs from Illinois. Last year she was involved in an event to raise awareness of the resources UA offers for students struggling with mental healh issues. This year she just ran an event to fund raise and raise awareness of college suicides.
Her boyfriend, a frat member, died about a year ago. Reading a bit between the lines, I suspect that he committed suicide. http://coed.com/2014/10/07/university-of-alabama-student-found-dead-in-fraternity-house/ http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dfw/obituary.aspx?pid=172753230 http://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/index.ssf/2014/10/fraternity_brothers_of_ua_stud.html http://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/index.ssf/2014/10/theta_chi_brothers_lead_hundre.html The Machine candidateâs âplatformâ is suicide prevention. Unlike the other candidates, this seems to be something she was involved in before this race. http://theodysseyonline.com/alabama/katelyn-katsafanas-vote-hc-queen/184937
So, while I find the whole idea of a Homecoming Queen and the Machine to be less than appealing, I can see why in this case the Greeks want to support this particular young woman and I donât think itâs about the color of her skin. The fact that this year each HQ candidate has a âplatformâ for the first time is telling.
The solution to this is for the balance of the student body to just put 100% of its support behind a candidate. The machine only works because they effectively control the voting population.
Itâs really not a rant and I agree that there is room for much improvement at UA. However, my only point is donât make it something its not⊠it wasnât a race issue from the start. She has been a member of that house for years and she knew how the system worked and went along with it. At the end she had the platform to not let people believe that her not getting the nomination was about race anther silence allowed it to catch on like wildfire. That is what is sad to me, just my opinion.
Even if it were true that it is not race related, it is hard for me to understand. If âThe machineâ thinks that their candidate is better, why canât that candidate canât win on her merits.
I understand that disenfranchisement and coercive voting tactics are part of Alabamaâs cultural history, However, if this is what happens in a race for Homecoming Queen, then what happens in real elections that matter?
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/06/3709020/alabama-dmv-voters/
Here is what the real âMachineâ is doing in Alabama right now.
Meanwhile, the one guy who tried to clean up Alabama was railroaded and has spent most of the last 7 years in jail.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/obama-pardon-don-siegelman
âOh, please. Sorority girls everywhere have long hair. Do you really think Ivy League sororities are filled with cutting edge fashionistas?â
I think you just reinforced the point⊠but not the point you think.
Oh, really? Please clue me in.
I think a larger issue is the role of race in sororities in general. Good for AGD to have had the courage to invite an African American woman to join their ranks! I know change doesnât occur over night, but I find it concerning that the numbers of women of color, proportionally, are not reflected in sorority membership. I have been looking at West Coast sorority groups specifically lately, and notice that while there may be a few women of color (to include Asian, Indian, Hispanic, etc) they are not represented in numbers that reflect the proportion of women of color at those universities. Sororities are private groups and their membership criteria are secret so it doesnât have to be âfair.â I have to wonder if change and true diversity will come or not? At least there is some progress and some discussion.
Some of the sororities expect you to wear weave if your hair is not long enough! RIDICULOUS!
The Pan-Hellenic Greeks are not the only Greeks on campuses. There are nine National Pan-Hellenic fraternities and sororities. These are the historically Black Greeks, also called âThe Divine Nine.â The first one was established in 1908 and they are the AKAs, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. They were established at Cornell University. This is why there are a minimal number of minority students in the Pan-Hellenic. Until recently, they were NOT accepted, so traditionally Black students have joined the Pan-Hellenic Greeks, as did their grandparents, parents, siblings and friends.
One thing that chapter photos on web sites seem to imply is that sororities tend to have lower diversity than fraternities, although there are examples of both highly segregated and well integrated chapters among both sororities and fraternities. But why does it appear that the level of segregation tends to be higher among sororities than fraternities?
yes I did notice that all the AKAâs seem to have to wear a weave, that is weird. I asked my AKA friend about it and she said itâs a requirement so that they can whip their hair back and forth!
âThe Machineâs purpose is to support Greeksâ
Well, no. The Machineâs purpose is to support its membership of historically white Greeks. And by âhistorically,â we mean like 2013. All other Greeks, including non-member white Greeks, donât have anything to do with its purpose.
Homecoming Queen is announced!
I love this comment. What do you say @boolaHI
Often when folks are uncomfortable, passive aggressive behavior is a traveling companion.
Sometimes the pictures on the webpages of sororities are several years old. Each house has to âscrubâ social media for any pictures of the members who are going to serve as guides and advisers for the girls going through rush. Itâs pretty hard to do at really big schools since any one house may have 10 of these advisers, so every picture with any of them in it has to be taken down. Just easier to take them all down or use pictures that are old. The Alpha Phi chapter took down the entire page after the uproar about the youtube video
Most of the web pages for houses arenât up to date. My daughterâs house webpage is a year old. The ânewsâ page has a twitter feed that is a little more current, but the photos on that page are old. The newest photo is of the girls who graduated last May. Other daughterâs house webpage is several years old with no information of value on it, just a link to the national page. Webpages just arenât that important to them.
Why is this news? Every time a black and a white person are involved in some fracas itâs always about race. The media once again is rushing to condemn the Greek system. If you donât like it, donât join it.
It wasnât news when a black women who is also a member of a sorority became student body president at Ole Miss. Iâm sure the white Greek power block supported her because she is Greek.