A little Alabama politics lesson: It’s the same group of people pushing this horseshit at my alma mater as pushing that horseshit in the legislature. “The Machine” is basically a campus arm of the dominant state political forces.

I’ve been expecting to see that story here. I know it’s easier to write a story about racist rich white people (and pretend it’s exclusive to southern states) but the DMV closings is terrifying and will affect poor and minority voters in this election

300 girls is far too many for any org so that’s problem #1. I think it all comes down to school culture and regulation. In my school Greek Life was heavily regulated. Parties were registered, pledge periods were supervised, advisors attended events, minimum GPA’s and other things. If you misbehaved their were…

Mine too. I was shocked to see how things work at UA (not my alma mater) when I was in Tuscaloosa. Halle was one of the Black girls who pledged after the 2013 recruitment scandal involving racism, after which the administration mandated the traditionally white sororities to pledge Black girls or else. The fact that…

My question is where the hell is the sorority advisor and why aren’t National Organizations or National Panhel addressing this with them?

Absolutely not. She could have joined a traditionally black sorority but she didn’t and the pride of any of these organizations and ESPECIALLY the black sororities would not even allow them to entertain letting her go through the pledge process. Most of them would see her actually joining a non Divine Nine…

Let’s keep perspective here. This is the same state that is closing 31 DMV locations, citing funding. This disproportionately affects people of color, as the DMVs are in predominantly African-American counties.

Well it’s supposed to at least... obviously what happened to this girl is wrong. I’m just saying that in an ideal situation (aka not the state of Alabama) that’s why that rule exists.

Not really. Being initiated means you’ve formed a special bond with sisters. You’ve experienced their rituals and to join another wouldn’t be fair to them. You have a long recruitment period in which you decide which sorority you want to join, then a 6 week probationary period in which to make up your mind if you want…

You can’t. Once you’re initiated in one you can’t join another.

Because class is still a HUGE thing in the South. Look, you have many, many, many cities and towns that are either all white or 99% white in the South. Still, people are going to discriminate because people always want social ladders. So, how do you discriminate in a place where everyone is of the same ethnic…

This 1992 article about The Machine is still fantastic:

I don’t know and now that you’ve asked, I’m really curious.

I’m equally perplexed by the fact that a young, beautiful, and competent black woman would want to join such a group.

This takes my love of secret societies and injects some fun institutional racism and I am NOT OKAY with it

I feel like she’s basically a prom queen except sadder because this isn’t high school anymore yet you’re still doing the same shit.

No shit. If my sorority had done this to me, I would quit. The whole point of a sorority (at least a big one of many in my mind) is having that sense of unconditional support from your sisters all throughout college and life. That’s what mine was like, anyway.

This “machine” thing sounds so Skull and Bones. I’m off to read more about this and maybe even the Illuminati now. Like, is this real life?

What the fuck is wrong with white people and status issues? They straight up don’t care if people think they’re racist because they care more about appearing “proper” to the people with “status.” It’s so repulsively class-based and so... 1950s. How the fuck is it 2015 and we’re still having COLLEGE STUDENTS so wrapped…

I hope she wins and I hope her “sisters” realize the full scale of their cowardice in not supporting her.