Black Greek Organizations (1980 - 1995)

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This picture from the 1983 yearbook features the members of the historically black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma. The members of the fraternity are unnamed.

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The University of Richmond's Interfraternity Council (IFC) voted in 1980 to expand and accept the historically black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma, according to an article called "IFC Vote: UR May Soon Have Black Fraternity" published in the Collegian on February 2nd, 1980. Former president of the IFC, Wayne Biggs, said that it was originally the idea of some basketball players to bring a black fraternity to UR. At the time of the article, there was only one black student in a fraternity, among a total of 11 fraternities on campus.

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The article “Black Students Feel ‘Prejudice’ at Richmond,” published on October 23rd, 1980 by the Collegian explored the social life, and dynamic of white and black student relationships. The article interviews several black students, none of whom are named, expressing a level of discomfort and strain in their attempts to interact with white students. A Westhampton College sophomore said, “People think you're the janitor in North Court or one of the workers in dining hall just because you're black.” Additionally, the article mentioned the historically black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma’s and the creation of a black lodge. The black students mentioned that they hoped white students would attend their parties. Additionally they expressed the desire for the university to raise the quota of black students to help increase the black student experience.

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The article "Phi Beta Sigma Colonizes New Fraternity at Richmond" published by the Collegian on September 11th, 1980, is about the historically black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma establishing a chapter at the University of Richmond. James Reed was president of the chapter with majority of the members being black football players. They were also interested in bringing the sister sorority to the Sigma fraternity, the "Sigma doves" called the Zeta Phi Beta sorority. The article says, "They offer cultural and social functions to the blacks attending UR."

Sigmas (1980)

The first black Greek organization to join University of Richmond was Phi Beta Sigma, also known as the Sigmas, in 1980. There were 11 fraternities on campus not including the Sigmas. Fraternities were permitted to submit bids to both black and white students, and yet only one black student was a member of a fraternity prior to 1980. In order for a new fraternity to create a chapter at University of Richmond, first a proposal had to have been approved by the Interfraternity Council (IFC) which are representatives of the 11 fraternities on campus, then the Student Life Council, a meeting of the faculty, and also of the Board of Trustees. The IFC had a unanimous vote to welcome the Sigmas to UR. Wayne Biggs, President of the IFC said in a Collegian article called “Largely Black Fraternity Seeks to Start UR Colony” that the fraternity would be “good for the University in terms of recruiting black students and good for black students in social terms.”

James Reed, president and founder of Richmond’s Sigma chapter and six other black students, Clayton White, Tim Spriggs, Jesse Moore, James Lyles, Mike London, and Kenny Still comprised Richmond’s Sigma chapter. Reed said “Once blacks realize they can come here for academics and a social life on campus, we will be bringing culture to the University; they will come here for academics, not just athletics.” Most of the Sigmas were football players and had been initiated into the organization at Virginia Commonwealth University. In an article published by the Collegian called “Phi Beta Sigma Colonizes New Fraternity at Richmond” Reed said that they had two goals, one was to increase membership by ten new members, and two, to be recognized. The Sigma chapter helped cultivate a social life for black students on campus, hosting parties that catered to black students but were not exclusive. Black students had to create their experience on their own, and the Sigmas were pioneers in changing the black student image on campus by making their presence known through social activities. The Sigma’s were also trying to reach out to black women at UR by recruiting members of the sister organization Zeta Phi Beta, also known as Sigma Doves. It is unknown as to when the Sigma’s left University of Richmond, however it took until 2009 for UR to gain another historically black fraternity.

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This Collegian article, "Black Sorority Seeks Charter at UR," from March 2nd, 1995, is about the historically black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), seeking a charter at University of Richmond. Despite there being nine historically black sororities and fraternities, the article mentions that only one black sorority, Delta Sigma Theta (DST), has a charter at UR. Juletta Tyson, the president of UR’s DST chapter--which was chartered just three years before this article was published--expressed that the difficulty in obtaining a charter exists in the lack of numbers given the small black population at UR. The unofficial members of AKA declined to comment on the process of obtaining a charter for fear that it would negatively affect their ability to start an official chapter.

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This piece in the Collegian interviews five students on their opinions on bringing black sororities to University of Richmond's campus. Erwin Mathews said, "I think it's good, since our campus is all about diversity. Without the black Greeks, I don't think there's a fair representation." The students interviewed were a mix of black and white men and women, all of whom supported having a black sorority on campus.

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The Collegian article "Black Women Seeking Own UR Sorority," published February 23rd, 1989, details black women appealing to the former Dean of Westhampton College, Patricia C. Harwood, and the Arts & Science faculty about bringing a historically black sorority to the University of Richmond. According to the article the Committee on Sororities did not originally bring any historically black sororities because they did not want to send the message that they were resisting integration. Additionally, they did not want to appear as though they did not want black students to mix with the white students. Heather Brown, a Westhampton College sophomore said, "I would like to join a black sorority because I believe it is part of black American culture, and I believe that especially at the University of Richmond, where the numbers of black people are so small, that there have got to be support groups."

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The article "Historically Black Sorority Colonizes: Formation of Group Marks a First for the University" published by the Collegian in 1992 describes the goals of the historically black sorority Delta Sigma Theta after officially becoming a sorority, and the chanllenges they faced in gaining their charter.

Delta Sigma Theta (1992)

Although the idea of a black sorority joining University of Richmond was discussed in the Collegian in 1989, the historically black sorority Delta Sigma Theta (DST) did not create a chapter until 1992. The Collegian notes that the Committee on Sororities did not bring a historically black sorority to campus because they did not want to seem as though they were segregating black and white students, or that the administration did not want black students with white students. The historically black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma would have already been established at that point, and segregation was not a fear the students had. The goal was to create safe spaces for black students, where they are not constantly under scrutiny. The Dean of Westhampton College, Patricia C. Harwood said, “It seems that minority students need and benefit from an opportunity not only to be a part of the integrated mainstream of life on the campus, but also from an opportunity to come together in an organization of minority students.” The Dean’s comment highlights the disconnect between black students and the administration and that black students had to rely on people that didn’t understand their plight to improve their situations. This is because the realization took so long to come. To begin cultivating an environment for black women in 1990 despite black students having been on campus since 1968 is not an accomplishment and is instead an example of the lack of interest the administration had for black students.

In an article published in 1992 by the Collegian called “Historically Black Sororities Could Colonize in Fall 1992,” the potential colonization of historically black sororities Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) and Delta Sigma Theta (DST) are discussed. In 1992 only three percent of the students enrolled were African American. In order to colonize, Delta’s needed at least seven members, whereas AKA’s needed twelve. Tina Cade, president of the Minority Student Union, expressed a fear that the black student population was not large enough to support both groups. Students felt they needed a black sorority on campus because it provides a support group specifically for black women, which did not exist prior to the establishment of DST at University of Richmond. President of UR’s DST chapter, Juletta Tyson, said that a problem with creating a chapter was the lack of numbers because of how small the black student female population was. Black sororities are sources of empowerment, and validation for black women.