A lesson from one Crimson to another

In a state as conservative as Indiana, IU students are fortunate to live and study in a city as diverse as Bloomington. Our University is an institution which guarantees that if you work hard, play by the rules and are willing to go the distance, no matter what you look like, where you’re from or who you love, you can achieve success.

But last week, a vote at the University of Alabama reminded us why institutions like IU must continue moving forward and never look back.

A weakly-worded resolution went up for a vote in the University of Alabama’s student government assembly that was meant to affirm the school’s commitment to tolerance.

The Machine — an unofficial but increasingly not-so-secret society composed of representatives from 28 all-white fraternities and sororities on UA’s campus — effectively killed the resolution, using parliamentary procedure to table the bill for the remainder of the year.

The reason for the resolution at UA arose last summer, when racial segregation inside Alabama’s greek system — particularly its sororities — gained national attention. Two superbly qualified women, seemingly the perfect potential pledges on paper, were denied membership to any of UA’s 16 Panhellenic sororities because of their race, Alabama’s student newspaper reported.

The ensuing firestorm put the university on the defensive and led to a push by administrators for greater integration within Alabama’s historically white fraternities and sororities.

Proposed within the university’s student government, the resolution was meant to, if only symbolically, help the integration effort within UA.

“Ultimately, the resolution was to just encourage further integration based on diversity, specifically racial diversity on our campus, which I think a lot of people would agree with,” one student sponsor said.

The Machine — launched in 1914 as a chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon — is widely known at UA to have a stranglehold on student government elections, the result of machine-style politics. But what is even more sinister about the organization and its role in killing the tame resolution is its history as a white advocacy group.

After Cleo Thomas, the only black candidate to date that has won the UA’s Student Government Assembly presidency in 1976, ran and beat the Machine candidate, cloaked men in white sheets burnt crosses in what many say was a response to the first black student body president.

As a result, the Machine extended membership of sororities into its ranks, since Thomas won through a coalition of black students, independents and white sorority members.

In 1993, a non-Machine candidate was attacked in her home and left with a knife wound on her face. Later that Thanksgiving, crosses were burnt on her front lawn and a note was left with the words “Machine rules bitch.”

The SGA was then suspended until 1996.

The defeat last week of the resolution supporting integration at UA did not come as much of a surprise.

Back here at IU, Alabama’s shortcoming should serve as evidence as to why we must continue the welcoming heritage of our school and our community.

Though more steps can and should be taken toward inclusiveness, IU’s focus on diversity is essential to prevent the sort of environment that seems to exist at UA.
 While some might question the relevance or success of diversity programs, Alabama is stark reminder of why institutions of higher education should have them.  

When it comes to student government, the election process at UA should also makes us look at our own IU Student Association elections with a grain of salt.
The lack of competitive elections in years past is a sign that we might be not be doing all we can to make them as competitive as possible. The last four administrations have in some way or another been connected, not including next year’s incoming executives.

IUSA needs to make election reform a priority to ensure it remains a representative and credible organization for all IU students.

Fortunately, the problems with our own student government are not as extensive as IUSA’s counterpart in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Some credit must also be given to our own greek system.

Though it has its imperfections and areas which need growth, its ongoing efforts to make the greek community a more diverse and inclusive community — UNIFY IU, for instance — should be commended.

Though we may be leaps ahead of Alabama in promoting tolerance, neither complacency nor purely cosmetic changes should be entertained.

The consequence of not advancing diversity is a toxic culure, as UA shows,  Our state may have a chequered past when it comes to those that are different. But through IU’s legacy of progress, we’ve managed to carve out a space for everyone on our campus. And we can’t afford anything less.  

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