When Victoria Stephens ’24 transferred into Cornell’s Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter after rushing the same sorority at Binghamton, she initially felt like she did not fit in. While her feelings of exclusion were not directly related to race, she noticed that many of the sorority sisters bonded over experiences typically more accessible to white individuals.
“Nobody said, ‘You’re not a part of Kappa because you’re Peruvian.’ Nobody said that to me and I don’t think that thought came across anyone’s mind,” Stephens said. “But it was more [about how] I didn’t go to private school. I went to public school. I didn’t go to a boarding school, and I didn’t go to camp. Kappa is predominantly Jewish. I’m not Jewish. A lot of the common ground the other girls would talk about, I was not able to relate to.”
While women of color who belong to sororities under the Panhellenic Association reported a diverse array of experiences across several organizations, many faced bias, underrepresentation and exclusion, despite sororities’ growing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The Sun interviewed four women of color to discuss the effect their racial background has had on their experiences with Panhel sorority life, from recruitment to membership.
Fears of Tokenism, Ostracization Puncture Recruitment Process For Women of Color
Anaisa Cespedes ’24 decided not to go through recruitment as a freshman due to her anxiety that being a woman of color would alienate her from her sorority.
“I was scared in general — scared of just being ostracized within my organization if I did make it through rounds and [get] picked. I was scared of being the token person of color because while Cornell is diverse, people usually hang out in clusters, and some of that is defined by background and skin color,” Cespedes said. “So I was nervous that girls in my own member class would ignore me and think that [the chapter] had to pick someone who was brown.”
It was only after she began hearing positive opinions from other friends of color about their Panhel sororities that Cespedes decided to go through informal recruitment in the fall of her sophomore year. But she still feared that her interactions with members of the chapter would be impacted by cultural differences or implicit biases.
Amoure Bell ’25, a member of Alpha Chi Omega, said that the largest anxiety that girls of color have going into recruitment is fear of being tokenized or pigeonholed according to their race by the sorority members.
“As a person of color, when you’re rushing, you may be worried about how you’re being perceived not only by personality but also by race,” Bell said. “[There’s] also the concern [of] if you’re a token pick or something.”
Stephens, who also served as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s 2022-2023 president, noticed that shared experiences and upbringings can play a role in getting a bid to a sorority. While not a direct reflection of race, pre-existing personal connections can inadvertently often exclude people of color.
“I haven’t met anyone that was like, ‘We can’t take this girl because she’s Black.’ No one is going to say that, but I’ve noticed getting into a sorority is a lot about people you know or the people that know you,” Stephens said.
Sometimes connections spread among familial lines, perpetuating homogeneity among each member class.
“For instance, if I know that this girl’s cousin is a freshman, the chances of her getting into Kappa are probably a lot higher than the average girl,” Stephens said. “But Kappa is mostly white and so it’s not necessarily a disadvantage because of their race, but more so a disadvantage because of their pre-Cornell experience.”
Unequal DEI Efforts Across Panhel Sororities
Jada Boggs ’25, the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion of Alpha Chi Omega said that when she rushed, many sororities did not seem to have solid DEI initiatives in place.
“When I rushed, I found that a lot of sororities did not have a solid answer about their DEI work or commitment to DEI,” Boggs said. “I’m sure all the sororities value DEI, but, in my opinion, when a general member cannot tell me about DEI initiatives, there is not a lot of active work going on.”
Cespedes, who served as Pi Beta Phi’s vice president of diversity and inclusion for the 2022-2023 term, said that the movement to institute DEI positions and efforts within chapters has only started within the last few years. She also said that some sororities take DEI more seriously than others.
“I’ve heard things in my position [as DEI chair] that other sororities don’t take DEI seriously. Right before recruitment, we have workshops to talk about our own experiences and not just throw definitions at you. But some sororities don’t even do that,” Cespedes said. “The most [some chapters] do is a [Panhel] meeting with other DEI chairs and recruitment chairs where they’re talking about DEI in general, when I think you could say a lot more than that.”
Stephens said that prior to rush, DEI chairs at Kappa Kappa Gamma educate members on how to foster inclusivity and equitability within conversations with potential new members.
“We talk a lot about the impact of our words versus the intention, emphasizing saying, ‘How was your break?’ or ‘Where do you call home?’” Stephens said, “versus ‘Where did you go for break?’ or ‘Where are you from?’”
Stephens noted that Kappa Kappa Gamma’s DEI chairs are usually white, amid a lack of interest in the position by the few members of color.
“I think that’s just because we’re a majority white sorority and appointing the one or two girls of color for elections would be wrong in itself,” Stephens said. “What has tended to happen is that the one or very few women of color don’t want to be in a position at all or would rather be in a different position. It would be completely unfair to automatically assign them to the DEI position just because of their race or background.”
Boggs suggested that sororities make their DEI training more comprehensive to improve the recruitment experience for women of color.
“I led [a workshop] for Alpha Chi Omega where we talked about the obvious — don’t be racist, homophobic, etc., and don’t say slurs,” Boggs said. “But [we] also talked about the history of Panhel sororities and how girls of color might not initially feel welcome and that we should keep that in mind. We also talked about simple things like placing emphasis on learning how to say everyone’s name and other things that make people of color feel appreciated and understood.”
Boggs described a positive reception from sisters to her nuanced, historicized DEI resource.
“After our training, multiple sisters reached out to me about learning things for the first time and how meaningful it was,” Boggs said.
Barriers to Breaking Systemic Whiteness in Sororities
Despite DEI efforts, the systemic whiteness that defines the history of many Panhel sororities makes the success of DEI efforts difficult.
Some of the sorority members interviewed by The Sun agreed that the experience of being a woman of color in a predominantly white sorority differs across chapters.
“I think some sororities are known for having more women of color than others. I know that Kappa is notoriously known for not having a lot of women of color. So my experience is going to be a lot different [than members of more diverse chapters],” Stephens said.
During her time as a member, Stephens said she has encountered multiple incidents of people not believing that she is in Kappa Kappa Gamma during and upon entry to mixers.
“When you’re a woman of color in a predominantly white sorority, sometimes people don’t believe that you’re actually in that sorority because you typically don’t look like other members,” Stephens said. “So sometimes, when you go to mixers or when you tell people you’re in the sorority, you’re more likely to be questioned, because they believe you’re lying.”
Stephens explained that the lack of diversity persists because recruitment naturally attracts girls who are similar to existing members.
“When you’re going through recruitment, you tend to look around and see how many girls look like you so you can get a sense of if you would fit in. That’s another reason why it’s difficult to get women of color in a predominantly white sorority because a lot of them are going to gravitate towards sororities that already have women of color,” Stephens said. “I’m not going to blame any of the girls that felt more comfortable joining another sorority because that’s where they feel represented.”
Cespedes, however, said she is hopeful about the future of inclusion and representation in Panhel sororities at Cornell, with the growing interest in diversifying student life.
“At Cornell, I’m hopeful. A lot of the girls I’ve met here are very progressive, and if you talk to any random person here, [the] majority of the time, they’re not going to be exclusive on purpose,” Cespedes said. “Here, where Greek life is more [relaxed compared to Greek life in other areas], I have hope.”
Izzie Diallo ’27 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].