.jpg)
I met a young Black man this weekend (let's call him Michael) who is facing a dilemma. He goes to a university in Utah which is predominantly white. Actually, it's almost entirely white. In his words, "There are like 12 black people on campus," and almost all of them are athletes. Michael has often thought that he'd like to be a member of a fraternity, but there are no historically Black fraternities within hundreds of miles. He couldn't really start one if he wanted to, because there aren't any other interested Black men on campus who would want to join, and they would have no graduate member support.
So, being an undergraduate member of a Black fraternity basically isn't possible, unless he wants to transfer to another school, which he does not.
Meanwhile, his friend (also his roommate) is working hard to start a multi-cultural fraternity on their campus. The friend wants to create a place for non-white men to gather and find support. He has invited Michael to join, and Michael is struggling. Should he join a fraternity that would not be his first choice, just so he can have an undergraduate fraternity experience? Or, is he somehow selling out? Does he have a responsibility as a Black man to only join a fraternity if he can join a historically-Black one?
He put this question to me, and I'd be interested to know what some of you think.
I told him that there is tremendous benefit in the fraternity experience, and that he should seriously consider joining his friend in founding the multi-cultural group. While it might not be an NPHC group, it could potentially provide a very supportive place for future Black men and other men of color at an institution where they are massively outnumbered. He said that he really likes the men who are joining the new group, so he'd probably really enjoy it, too.
I told him that you can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. Someone should write a song about that...
But, maybe you don't agree? Maybe he should just wait until later in his life and join the fraternity he most personally identifies with? Would the answer be different if the only fraternity option open to him was a historically white fraternity?
Hmm...
