ASU’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, which consists of historically African-American sororities and fraternities, struggles each semester to fight the stereotype of the “black council.”
Despite diversity not being an explicit goal, president of NPHC and psychology and communications senior Briana Buckner wants her council at ASU to become more diverse.
“I do feel that it’s a diverse council. But I do not feel that we are expressing it in our numbers because people don’t expect us to be diverse or think we take people of other nationalities besides African-Americans,” Buckner said.
Buckner said the NPHC consists of 30 students and a majority of them are African-American.
“If you just see (that) all the new members (brought) in are black, black, black then you’ll probably think that’s all (NPHC) accept(s),” Buckner said.
Interdisciplinary studies senior Mario Yerger, public relations officer of the NPHC, said students tend to shy away from joining the NPHC because it is predominantly African-American students.
“It’s not just limited to African-American students,” Yerger said.
Buckner said what helps diversify the council is having members such as journalism senior Samantha Egan, who is Caucasian.
“That helps us put the idea in people’s head like, ‘Oh they don’t only have black people,’” Buckner said.
Egan is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, a sorority of the NPHC. She knew that it was a historically black sorority but it did not prevent her from pledging last spring.
“The reason I joined Sigma (Gamma Rho) is because I joined as my self and I didn’t have to pretend to be anybody else,” Egan said. “I was just accepted right from the beginning.”
Egan said that she chose Sigma Gamma Rho because she felt comfortable and that they followed through with their principles.
“When I was looking for a sorority, I was basing it off of the sisterhood, the scholarship and who was following through on it,” Egan said.
Egan said that she enjoys the small community of the NPHC because it feels like a family.
“People not only within her sorority, but within the NPHC accept Samantha regardless (of) her skin color,” Buckner said.
Buckner and Yerger said increasing the diversity in their council will help increase the numbers of their small council.
Buckner said the NPHC’s own exclusion is also a problem.
“There is no reason to exclude people and be to ourselves,” Buckner said. “I feel that we’ve excluded ourselves so much from other people (so) that’s why people don’t know about our organization.”
She said they do not take some non-African-American students’ interest seriously when they attend recruiting events.
“When people aren’t African-American and come to our table I am just as friendly to them. I give them the information too like everyone else,” Buckner said. “But in the back of my head I don’t consider (NPHC) as something they are interested in joining.”
Buckner said her suspicion could be wrong but doesn’t see it as something non-African American students would participate in.
Reach the reporter at shurst2@asu.edu
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