article_snippet: Both of my parents participated in Greek life in Oklahoma, but at a different university.
article_snippet: Sometimes students are excluded from Greek life, in theory, because students're seen as uncool or don't "fit in" with a particular chapter.
article_snippet: That's the view of Matthew Hughey, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut who studies racial dynamics in American Greek life.
article_snippet: Comparative data on the racial make-up of Greek organizations is impossible to come by, but anecdotal evidence suggests Greek organizations are starkly divided by race.
article_snippet: At the time of interviews, the average membership size of Greek organizations was 63 members, and there was an average of 2.4 nonwhite members per organization,
article_snippet: Far too many of we, especially those of we with friends and family members who have participated in Greek life, either are in denial about this -- or we choose to see egregious cases of racism, sexism and violence in the U.S. Greek system as somehow isolated.
article_snippet: Then we could know the answers to some interesting questions: How segregated are Greek organizations?
article_snippet: I'm not calling for an end to the Greek system.