African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision

Contents

Contents v CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Tamara L. Brown PART I. HISTORICAL CONTEXT 1. Pledged to Remember: Africa in the Life and Lore of Black Greek-Letter Organizations 11 Gloria Harper Dickinson 2. The Origin and Evolution of College Fraternities and Sororities 37 Craig L. Torbenson 3. Black Fraternal and Benevolent Societies in Nineteenth-Century America 67 Anne S. Butler 4. The Grand Boulé at the Dawn of a New Century: Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity 95 William H. Harris 5. Education, Racial Uplift, and the Rise of the Greek-Letter Tradition: The African American Quest for Status in the Early Twentieth Century 137 Michael H. Washington and Cheryl L. Nuñez 6. In the Beginning: The Early History of the Divine Nine 181 André McKenzie 7. Lobbying Congress for Civil Rights: The American Council on Human Rights, 1948–1963 211 Robert L. Harris Jr. PART II. BLACK GREEK-LETTER ORGANIZATION CULTURE 8. Sister Acts: Resistance in Sweetheart and Little Sister Programs 233 Mindy Stombler and Irene Padavic brownfront.pmd 1/11/2005, 5:33 PM 5 vi African American Fraternities and Sororities 9. The Body Art of Brotherhood 269 Sandra Mizumoto Posey 10. Calls: An Inquiry into Their Origin, Meaning, and Function 295 Marcella L. McCoy 11. Variegated Roots: The Foundations of Stepping 315 Carol D. Branch 12. Sisterly Bonds: African American Sororities Rising to Overcome Obstacles 341 Clarenda M. Phillips PART III. CONTEMPORARY ISSUES CONFRONTING BLACK GREEK-LETTER ORGANIZATIONS 13. Racism, Sexism, and Aggression: A Study of Black and White Fraternities 363 Tyra Black, Joanne Belknap, and Jennifer Ginsburg 14. How Black Greek-Letter Organization Membership Affects College Adjustment and Undergraduate Outcomes 393 Shaun R. Harper, Lauretta F. Byars, and Thomas B. Jelke 15. The Empty Space of African American Sorority Representation: Spike Lee’s School Daze 417 Deborah Elizabeth Whaley 16. “In the Fell Clutch of Circumstance”: Pledging and the Black Greek Experience 437 Gregory S. Parks and Tamara L. Brown Future Directions 465 Tamara L. Brown, Clarenda M. Phillips, and Gregory S. Parks Selected Bibliography 471 List of Contributors 485 Index 489 Illustrations follow page 252 brownfront.pmd 1/11/2005, 5:33 PM 6 ...