On Sept. 11, The Crimson White, the University of Alabama’s student newspaper, published an article detailing the prevalent racism in the rush process in its Greek system. It seems that this year, at least two black freshmen went through the Panhellenic rush process at Alabama, and despite at least one of them being qualified and actively pursued by three different sororities, neither was offered a bid. The article quotes representatives from four sororities, Alpha Gamma Delta, Tri Delta, Chi Omega and Pi Beta Phi, who say this particular recruit got high scores and was highly sought-after. However, in each case, alumnae from the sororities’ boards blocked access to this recruit because of her race.
  Since being published on Sept. 11, this article by a student newspaper much like this one, sourced by some very brave young women, has exploded across national media such as CNN, the New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed and the Washington Times.
   Wednesday, crowds of students participated in the Final Stand at the Schoolhouse Doors in protest of the current descrimination controversy, according to AL.com.     
   Yadena Wolf, a member of Alpha Omicron Pi stated, “We cannot end this discussion. We must move forward and encourage one another to be brave,” as reported by AL.com.
  Alabama governor Robert Bentley has spoken out against the proceedings, citing his wife as his sorority authority. Things are changing at the University of Alabama, and people are listening. And all this because two young women had the courage to go through an avenue that had been closed to them, one sorority girl was angry enough to bring it to the attention of the school newspaper and some plucky editors had the skills and bravery to publish it.
  For the past three years, the name of this column has been a reference to a Disney attraction  about how “one little spark of inspiration” can change everything. I’ve written about dozens of instances in which one person, in many cases my reader, can do something small to create a new reality. But not until now have I truly seen a case where students have committed such a brave act for such a far-reaching call to action.
    Maybe we’re not Alabama. Our fraternities and sororities may not have a mysterious “machine” that surrounds their actions and gathers intrigue. And our Panhellenic Council may have slightly more women of color in it than the inspiring number of zero. But, as a state and as a university, we face the same history and the same challenges that Alabama does.
   Ignoring the racism faced by our student body does not work. As the responses to The Crimson White article continue to come in, there is a prevailing sentiment that today’s young white people are taking a step outside the racism of the past. But in order to truly change an entire generation, these white people, especially those in positions of social authority like sororities, have to educate themselves and speak out about the issues faced by people of color every single day. It seems that at Alabama, for whatever reason, our peers had stayed silent long enough.