It is time to stop honoring legacies during recruitment.

 Chi Omega has truly encouraged me to be “democratic rather than exclusive” as stated in our symphony. During this season of change in our world, my sisters and I have had many thoughtful conversations about what we as a sisterhood can do to be more welcoming, more anti-racist, and more democratic. One topic that many of us agreed upon was that changes needed to be made within the recruitment process. The most urgent change being how we honor legacies.

            Seeing Chi Omega speak out about our history of exclusion, followed by actionable items to become better, assured me that we are on the right path for our future. The next step is no longer honoring legacies during the recruitment process. It is known that for a long time, women of color were not allowed membership in our organization. At the same time women of color were not allowed membership, generations of white women were given membership into our organization. Even once membership was able to be given to women of color, discrimination and racism still ran (and in many cases, still runs) rampant on many campuses, leading to the continuation of exclusion of women of color from our organizations. Since women of color were not allowed membership (many of these women who were excluded are the ages of our mothers, aunts, and grandmothers) for so long, the likelihood of a potential new member who is a woman of color having a mother, aunt, or sister who was a member of Chi Omega is unlikely. Honoring legacies does discriminate against women of color who are going through the recruitment process.

            A fellow Panhellenic organization, Delta Gamma, has already chosen to do this. The statement the released does a wonderful job of explaining why no longer honoring legacies during recruitment is necessary;

 “As our world has evolved, it is our duty to be a welcoming home to all women. We know it is an honor and privilege for alumna members to send their daughters to college with the confidence that she’ll be accepted into Delta Gamma with open arms.

We must also afford that same opportunity to women whose mothers, sisters and grandmothers did not have the same access to higher education or the ability to join organizations like ours in the past that would allow them to become legacies. We know that doing good as it relates to racial equality and social justice means that we need to do better, do more and speak out against what we know creates unequal access and unbalanced opportunity within our sisterhood.”

Our symphony instructs us “to act sincerely, to choose thoughtfully that course which occasion and conscience demand”. It is both in good conscience and the right occasion to take this bold step towards a more inclusive organization. Let us back our words with actions.