Racism has been a heavily publicized issue within the University of Texas community this semester and awareness of the perception of Greek life has increased. Aside from the Abigail Fisher Supreme Court case, the majority of racist accusations have been aimed at the fraternities and sororities on campus leaving a negative stigma on Greek life. These accusations are centered on theme parties that have been thrown by the Greek organizations. In fact, the Campus Climate Response Team (an organization that investigates incidents of bias at UT)  has received 15 reports of racially biased theme parties this semester. The main reason these parties are deemed racist is because of the attire the party-attendees dawn. Typical attendees at these parties wore stereotypical outfits which some people considered racist. For example, some people who attended a fiesta-themed party hosted by Delta Delta Delta and Zeta Alpha Tau came wearing ponchos, sombreros, fake mustaches, and shirts that said “illegal” and “border patrol”. Events such as these have caused students to wonder whether or not there is racism within the Greek culture. As sociologists we intend to investigate why certain students have different perceptions about the existence of racism in Greek life.

Despite the idea that UT is all about diversity and acceptance, a thought ingrained in us since freshman orientation, the perception of Greek life at UT does not seem so diverse. When surveyed well over half of the entire sample believed there was racism in Greek life. What does this mean if such a widely understanding campus and city in general believe Greek life is racially biased? As a sociologist it is interesting to question whether the problem lies in the individuals participating in Greek life or the system of Greek life at UT itself. There are plenty of fraternities and sororities at UT, some stereotypically labeled, such as Gamma Beta which is commonly referred to as the Asian frat amongst many students. Although Gamma Beta is predominantly Asian, there are several members of the fraternity that are white and I’ve met a few that were african american as well. So if the fraternity itself isn’t decisively Asian-only, why has it been racially labeled as the Asian fraternity? The fact that many people instinctively use race as an identifying factor for groups is very interesting.

Appealing to an approach that emphasizes human nature, a sociologist may claim that the issues in Greek life stem from natural human emotions and thoughts. To determine whether or not the stigma of racism in Greek life is a structural problem or due to other hidden issues we must delve further into the analysis of our data. We surveyed samples of people both involved in and not involved in Greek life to get an idea of how the perception of Greek life differs between the two groups and also interviewed several people with more in-depth questions. On the surface of our results, we were able to easily see that those who are outsiders to Greek life were much more likely to believe racism does exist within it while insiders tended to be more indecisive on the issue. 88/100 outsiders asserted that racism did exist in Greek life while 59/90 insiders also did. Well over fifty percent of participants in both surveys believed that racism definitely existed within Greek life allowing me to conclude that our survey is reliable, it obtained the same basic results from both groups. Our results also can be considered valid as we attempted to find out if people considered racism present in Greek life and successfully did within our sample. The generalizability of these results, however, may not be as well established. Our sample was comparatively small to the population of Greek life and students in Austin, much less the rest of the world. We would need a much larger, more diverse, and more geographically spread out sample in order to obtain results that we could hope to generalize over entire populations.

According to the surveys we conducted, a majority of those uninvolved in traditional Greek life perceive racism to be an issue within the system. In particular, many find issue with the offensive party themes that are receiving lots of criticism, such as “South of the Border” and “G’d up from the feet up”, which promote negative racial stereotypes. Some of those involved in predominantly white fraternities and sororities seem to not believe that racism exists because of the fact that “there are fraternities and sororities out there that have members from different races” as senior Jorge Lopez, a Hispanic member of UT’s Delta Tau Delta, says.

After surveying 190 participants, 90 of which are involved in a Greek organization, more than three-quarters of these participants believed that racism exists in Greek life, and a little over 65 percent of those involved in a Greek organization believed that racism exists. However, the interviews we conducted stated otherwise. This may be attributed to the fact that the people we interviewed were very aware that we were going to use what they said in our own analysis of racism in Greek life, and what they said might put them in an awkward situation. If this is true, this reflexivity (or “white coat effect”) may have caused the Greek life members to attempt to save face for their organization, and in turn, state that racism does not exist. Those not involved in Greek organizations, on the other hand, have nothing to lose, and are more likely to speak their mind. You never want to speak badly of an organization that you are involved in, because that reflects on your own character. Speaking nonchalantly about racism existing in Greek life would only perpetuate this idea and make it seem like you are okay with it. The members of the Greek community, the insiders, have an significant investment in their community. Because of this, they want to make sure that their community has the best reputation possible. Because of this reflexivity and attempt to save face, the Greek life interviewees might not have been completely truthful. To understand how racism in Greek life is perceived by those involved in it, one must gain an insider status.

A person’s membership in the Greek community also has a significant impact on their perception of racism within the community. A person who is a member of a fraternity or sorority has an insider perspective. They have more access to other members of the Greek community through mixers, philanthropy events, parties, and even day to day interactions. Fraternity brothers and sorority sisters tend to spend a large amount of time together throughout the day. They eat lunch together, take classes together, study together, and hang out together. They can get to know other fraternity and sorority members on a personal level, and develop their own informed opinions based on the wealth of information that is available to them. One example of an insider’s perspective can be seen in Hispanic senior Jorge Lopez’s opinion about themed parties. He said “Even though fraternities and sororities might have themed parties like a "fiesta" which has to do with the latino culture, I believe that people don’t dress up with the sole purpose to be racist and insult people of that race. People do it for fun and there are some people that sometimes might take it too far.. but those are few and far in between.” Jorge’s prior experience with these theme parties and relationships with other members of Greek life, both perks of the insider perspective, allow him to make an informed judgment about the nature of the theme parties.

Meanwhile, people who aren’t members of the Greek community have much less information available to make a judgment about racism within the Greek community. Typically, they do not have as many friends within the Greek community as the insiders. These outsiders have to rely on stories told by other outsiders and insiders which can be twisted through bias or involuntary changing of information (the telephone game effect). While some outsiders may indeed be well informed about the topic, most of the people who have outsider status aren’t as well informed as they think. Nia Wesley, an african-american freshman woman, illustrates her outsider perspective on the theme parties when she says “The white Greek theme parties like the "Crossing the Border" and "G'd up from the feet up" parties mocked the cultures which were being portrayed. People showed up in offensive outfits and promoted negative racial stereotypes”. Nia is forced to rely on stories that have been spread around campus to develop her opinion, rather than attend the theme parties and form her perception from first hand experience. The outsiders’ lack of information, and misinformation, causes their perception to be more subject to opinion and therefore less reliable. However, both insiders and outsiders can be subject to bias.

If there are other fraternities and sororities exclusive to those of Hispanic heritage, Asian heritage, or African American heritage, why are the predominantly white organizations receiving all the heat? Why are predominantly white Greek organizations depicted as racist, while predominantly Hispanic, Asian, or African American organizations are depicted as showing solidarity among their culture?

The concept of racism in Greek life is construed differently depending on one’s insider or outsider status. Both groups believe that it exists to different extents. An outsider may view a themed party as being racist, whereas an insider may view it as “all in good fun,” though it may not be politically correct or it may be taken as racism. The few individuals who take things too far do not accurately represent the Greek community as a whole and predominantly white Greek organizations should not be chastised for being racist or exclusive when there are also predominantly African American, Asian, or Hispanic organizations.