If you’ve ever lived on a college campus, then you’re probably familiar with Rush Week — a staple of the traditional college experience, where seas of girls clad in brightly-colored t-shirts chant and shout as they swarm the streets of campus.
However, fewer people of color consider joining the Panhellenic Council, often opting to join a cultural sorority or fraternity, such as those in the Divine Nine.
University alumna Krista Harris made history as the first Black member of Kappa Delta in 1990. Harris had no idea she was one of the first when she originally went out to rush. It wasn’t until after she pledged that she began receiving media attention.
“It wasn’t something that was brought up during the rush process, so when I found out there were no other (Black women) I was kind of surprised,” Harris said. “I guess it was odd to be the only one on some levels, but then in the ’80s it wasn’t because I was the first Black person on a lot of things.”
Diversity has been a longstanding issue in Panhellenic Greek life. Before Harris, two other women also broke the mold as the first Black women in their chapter: Bobra Crockett who joined Alpha Omicron Pi in 1986 and Tracey Meares who joined Kappa Alpha Theta in 1984.
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Neither of these women realized their impact on the University’s history and Greek life at the time — they just wanted to have a good time with their friends.
“It was only after the whole thing was over that I realized some people thought it was a big deal,” Meares said. “I didn’t, and that was a little overwhelming for it to become a big thing.”
Meares said she remembers feeling shocked at seeing articles that came out in The Daily Illini and local newspapers such as Newsweek, which gave unwanted attention to her for something she never considered to be newsworthy.
“Somebody dressed up as me for Halloween,” Meares said. “It was mean.”
Crockett pledged Alpha Omicron Pi her sophomore year and had a similar view to Meares on joining Greek life.
“I didn’t really try to make any statement; it was just something I thought would be fun to do,” Crockett said. “I think it was also a wake-up call because I had a lot of people questioning me like, ‘What are you doing?’”
Beyond the initial shock and publicity, all three women found a second home among their sorority sisters. Crockett said she felt very welcomed and accepted, noticing that the majority of controversy and attention came from outside of the University’s chapter.
“It wasn’t like what you would imagine, people saying ‘we don’t want that kind of person,’ none of that happened,” Meares said. “It wasn’t like that. It was a bunch of young girls going through their thing.”
Alpha Omicron Pi in particular was started with diversity in mind, with its founder having begun the chapter after being turned away from another sorority for being Jewish, according to Crockett.
“I think being exclusive is never on the table,” Crockett said. “What can we do? Keep doing what we’re doing. Keep teaching and mentoring collegiate women that inclusion is a good thing … I think for AOII it’s very natural and organic.”
Although Crockett and Harris both had family members in D9 sororities and fraternities, they chose to go a different route, rushing PHC instead. Ultimately, the most important thing to these women was finding a community they felt the most comfortable in, rather than sticking to tradition and expectations.
“Growing up in a small town where you had a lot of diversity in your friendships, race wasn’t a consideration for me … I went through recruitment with ‘well, if I find the right fit, great; if not, I don’t,’” Crockett said. “It doesn’t have to be everything, and fortunately AOII was a great fit for me, and I have never regretted it.”
For Meares, Harris and Crockett, conversations and initiatives surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion didn’t exist in the same capacity that they do now.
“There wasn’t really a thought around it; it was the ’80s, a different time frame,” Harris said. “We didn’t talk about it the same way. Also, there wasn’t a big push.”
Being the first Black member of Kappa Delta, Harris made waves in her chapter, bringing their attention to some exclusive practices surrounding initiation.
“I don’t think at the time the women thought of it in a racial way,” Harris said. “Really, that’s how they felt about it, but they were like ‘We understand how you feel too.’ They were very respectful about it.”
Today, PHC has emphasized fostering diversity within their sororities and encouraging more students to participate.
Sherlyn Carrillo, the current vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, said she is taking strides to continue to foster the most inclusive community possible. Carrillo wrote a statement on the Illinois PHC website expressing her plans to further their DEI initiatives.
Harris said initiatives like this excite her for the future of PHC.
“It’s good to see that they’re focusing on that, and that people who may wonder or question or think, is it a place for them, that there’s at least that statement there for them to feel like there is a place for them,” Harris said.
All three women continue to advocate for minorities within their respective sororities on the national level. Crockett works as a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi DEI council. Similarly, Harris works as a rush counselor for Kappa Delta.
“I think for the people in Panhel at large, to see, to know a black person, one to one … They might have felt more comfortable seeing a rush counselor like myself there, understanding that, hey, there are people,” Harris said. “That they know that there’s a house out there that would accept someone who looks like them.”
