I’m a senior in high school from California, I applied to Mississippi and Alabama because I love the culture of football and tailgating in SEC schools, also the culture of the whole area in general. However, I am half Iranian and I do show very prominent features of this lol. Are people there going to treat me differently than all the other “white” students. I dont want to go and then feel discriminated against especially if I rush for a frat. If anyone has any experience actually living there or going to these schools that would be great. Sorry to seem like I’m generalizing, its just something I’m concerned about and didnt know any other way to ask this.
I think it’s a perfectly reasonable question for a student of color to ask about any far-away university.
Well, candidly speaking, history has already provided a fairly detailed narrative on the question. Please read,http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/505/717.html
This case is from the not too distant past, 1993, and you cam your own decisions.
There’s a recent long thread on here about the lack of diversity in Alabama’s sororities. Here’s an article explaining it. http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/news/a10379/revolution-on-sorority-row-september-2014/
Bama’s traditional “white” houses are integrating.
I have written many recs for girls going thru Bama’s rush. I doubt you would have any problems.
D1 is a freshman at Ole Miss and having a great time. She is very introverted but has found a bunch of friends who are white, underrepresented minorities like her, foreigners or OOS students. I had a lot of concerns regarding her decision to attend Ole Miss strictly due to racism. Fortunately, she hasn’t encountered any overt bigotry or racism so far from other students or faculty. Granted, she has no plans to join a sorority. I think you will be fine at Ole Miss and I would expect the same at Bama.
I take that with a grain of salt. As if just two years ago, only one AA female was granted admission in 50 years. One in 50 years, in a state with the highest per capita AA population, almost 30%, in the nation.
I don’t know about Iranian heritage specifically but Alabama, like a number of other US colleges, has quite a few students from Saudi Arabia. I think I remember my son saying that Saudi Arabia has a scholarship for them to study abroad.
Here’s a couple of links talking about their experiences.
https://www.ua.edu/features/findyourpassion/ambassador.html
http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2014/09/alabama-cool-after%20saudi%20arabia
At Bama, my son’s suite mates in the honors dorm include a Jew and an international Muslim. They have all become great friends.
Sure, pockets of racism and self-segregation exist everywhere, but UA seems very progressive to me.
Thank you all for the replies, they were very helpful.
There are Greek forums on the internet similar to CC. You might ask there since most responses here are coming from adults.
Also try looking at pictures from the fraternity websites and social media sites.
While Saudi Arabia and Iran are across the Gulf from each other, their ethnic (and religious) heritages are quite different, and political relations between the two countries are hostile. Also, the OP appears to be a domestic student, rather than an international student. This would not necessarily prevent the OP from being friendly to students from Saudi Arabia, but it would likely be a mistake to say that he automatically would find more of a common bond with those students than with other students.
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg06_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=469 indicates that 2.7% of undergraduates at Alabama are international students. Of the domestic students, 80.9% are white and 11.7% are black, a rather different mix from what the OP is probably accustomed to in California.
Fraternities and sororities at many campuses (not just in the south) are often highly racially segregated, though fraternities are somewhat less so than sororities. Photo albums on chapter web sites can often reveal to what extent this is the case at any given campus.
My reply was directed to the issue that OP raised. I am aware of the political situation.
Personally, I would not choose my college based on football, but if that is important to you then there are other options (Big 10) out there for you. As far as prejudice is concerned, no one can answer that for you. You’d need to go down and see if the “image” is the reality.
Persians and Arabs don’t always see things eye-to-eye.
I suspect that a Persian-American male wouldn’t encounter any overt hostility from a fraternity or any other set of people on campus. Remember, at the time of the Iranian Revolution, I believe the largest group of International students at several American campuses were Iranians. Before the Shah fell, there were anti-Shah protests all over academia.
Pac-12, Big XII, ACC, etc. as well.
@boolaHI are you sure about that? I guess she would be the only one eligible for student body president. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/25/first-black-female-ole-miss-student-body-president-reacts-to-newest-racial-incident-at-university/
To the OP, there are about 1000 Bama students who are from California. Since the school is now majority OOS, I think you will find UA is more diverse than most southern flagship universities. From my visit to the campus, I think you will be fine. But the only way to really know is to visit for yourself.
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However, I am half Iranian and I do show very prominent features of this lol. Are people there going to treat me differently than all the other “white” students.
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If you were a black student wanting to rush the so-called “traditionally white houses,” then, as you know, the houses are slowly becoming more integrated (don’t know how the traditional Black houses are being affected by this).
However, students of other ethnic groups have been pledging for awhile with no problem.
I think you’re worried that your “prominent features” are going to be some hindrance. I don’t know what you mean. Sounds like you probably look like someone who could be half Hispanic, Half Italian, Half Indian, Half Greek, Half Lebanese, etc. I don’t see how any of that would encounter any issues at all.
@“Erin’s Dad” I am absolutely certain.
Paraphrased–Take the University of Alabama, for example. The school was put on the hot seat in 2013 when the university’s newspaper brought to national attention that Kennedi Cobb, an all-around perfect potential new member – minus the fact that she was black – didn’t receive a single bid from any of the 16 sororities on campus. In it’s entire history, the universities’s sororities had only previously admitted a single black member. See–http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/02/25/sorority-segregation-is-a-serious-issue