Lafayette College has a proclamation established in 1995 that states that "new member education (formerly known as pledging) would be no more than three weeks in length.” Our goal for this petition is to abolish this ruling and establish a new policy that proclaims that the length of new member education could be as long as the organization’s policy. Every fraternity and sorority, a part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and National Multicultural Greek Council, has a recruitment process lasting up to six weeks. The reason for this is due to the fact that there is a very long and complex history behind the establishment of these organizations. For example, there is a collection of fraternities and sororities which are dubbed the Divine Nine. These are historically Black fraternities and sororities that were all founded on Historically Black Colleges/Universities campuses. They were created during a time period in which Black people in America were going through extreme turmoil at the hands of white supremacy and the after-effects of slavery. On the NAACP Website the article “From the Burning Sands of the Divine Nine” states the following: 

“Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) began to come into fruition in the early 20th century due to the trials and tribulations that many black people were facing within the United States at the time. The inclusion of African Americans in universities proved to be trying times for black students in the early 1900s. Often ostracized and banned from joining many social organizations, black students began searching for ways to cope with these struggles. There were a few attempts at creating intercollegiate BGLOs, with Alpha Kappa Nu beginning in 1903 and then disbanding due to a struggle in keeping steady membership, Alpha Phi Alpha was the first successful fraternity to sustain its membership and expand.  Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was initially started as a study and support group for the black male students at Cornell University who were facing harsh racial prejudice at the time. Black students often could go days without seeing each another person of color on campus, so their study group served as their decompression from the struggles they faced.”

As stated in this brief excerpt, these historically Black and Multicultural Greek organizations serve as a safe haven for students of color within higher education. In addition to learning the steep history behind these organizations during the rushing process, prospective recruits are taught strolls and step routines that are unique to that specific fraternity and sorority- and a significant factor of Black and Brown people’s culture. 

This policy enacted by Lafayette College's faculty committee on student life is overtly discriminatory and unfair. It totally eliminates the possibility of providing Black and Brown students the opportunity to partake in a fraternity and sorority that gives them true brotherhoods and sisterhoods with individuals who look like them and share a common history with them. Additionally, it gives people direct access to a strong and deep connection with Black and Brown culture. The absence of these organizations which are so crucial to the existence of students of color continuously reinforces the idea that Black and Brown students are not welcomed on Lafayette’s campus and remind us that this institution was not created with us in mind. The presence of these organizations will increase the involvement of minority groups in Greek life and the Lafayette campus through leadership, networking, and philanthropy. Furthermore, this will enhance the satisfaction of one’s college experience and strengthen their ties to the Lafayette Community. We want to bring this change on campus because we aspire to enhance the diversity of Greek Life and the community of Lafayette creating more inclusivity for minorities.

-Reanna West, Emily Morocho, Briana Derivois 

-----

“In April of 1995, the faculty of the College passed a resolution put forth by the Faculty Committee on Student Life and approved by the Board of Trustees stating that beginning with the fall semester of 1995, no student may join a living group until the first semester of their sophomore year (individual must have completed at least 6 courses at the College to be considered a sophomore).”

“Also, passed within the same resolution by the Faculty Committee on Student Life was the proclamation that new member education (formerly known as pledging) would be no more than three weeks in length”

- Lafayette College Fraternity & Sorority Manual of policies & Procedures: Recruitment and New Member Education