A sorority at the University of Alabama has axed its chapter president from her post and booted another member after racist text messages were leaked on social media.
The vile texts were sent when Alpha Phi sorority members ventured to a bar in Tuscaloosa last week—and some started complaining about the spot, according to University of Alabama’s The Crimson White newspaper.
“I’m gonna yack, it smells so bad in here,” then-president Katherine Anthony reportedly wrote in the text thread.
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Kylie Klueger, another sorority member at the bar, allegedly blamed the smell on “cigs, weed and black girl.”
After the private messages were leaked on Instagram, The Crimson White reported that Anthony was ousted as president and Klueger was expelled from the sorority on Dec. 9.
That same day, the University of Alabama chapter of Alpha Phi posted about the issue on its Instagram page, which boasts more than 24,000 followers.
“The Beta Mu Chapter of Alpha Phi was made aware of a group text message where a member used racist and hateful language,” the post read. “We immediately launched our chapter’s judiciary board process. The person who sent the text message is no longer a member of our organization, and the other people in the group messages will be held accountable based on the conclusion of our judiciary board process.”
The post added that the chapter doesn’t condone racism and the members “deeply apologize for the racist behavior displayed by the former member and the harm and trauma this text message has caused to members of the Alabama community and the general public.
“As Alpha Phis, we aim to celebrate diversity and do our part to make Alabama more inclusive,” it says. “Unfortunately, the recent actions of those affiliated with our organization do not adhere to the standards we hold of our members.”
Since Anthony lost her rank as president, Marissa Collett has been named the chapter’s new leader.
In a letter from the new president posted on the chapter’s website, Collett wrote that Alpha Phi is “a sisterhood that values the past, but looks forward to the progress offered by the future.”
The chapter claims that the sorority values “life-long friendships rooted in kindness, love and respect for one another.” It also notes that members maintain “the qualities of strong character that distinguish our members and our sisterhood, including compassion, integrity and sincerity.”
In a statement to The Daily Beast, University of Alabama’s associate vice president of communications, Monica Watts, said that chapter members of Alpha Phi alerted school officials about the incident and that the chapter and the national organization would take action to address the issue.
“The communication is offensive, disappointing, and contrary to the University’s core values emphasizing collegiality, respect and inclusivity,” Watts said. “We expect our students and organizations to reinforce and enhance those values and appreciate when they appropriately hold each other accountable. The University takes these behaviors seriously and is committed to building a more inclusive community, which will take the ongoing, steadfast work of us all. The University is planning a campus-wide initiative early next semester to help our campus continue to develop strategies required to collectively build a better community.”
Earlier in the school year, Alabama’s Greek community faced a backlash over its lack of diversity in the rush process. A TikTok video even showed first-year students bragging about their wealth and status in order to receive an invitation for membership in the organizations. According to Slate, some people within the community have called the rush process racist and discriminatory against anyone who isn’t a white student.
In 2015, Alpha Phi was slammed for a recruitment video on YouTube that was deemed “racially and aesthetically homogenous.” In 2018, an Alpha Phi sorority sister was ousted from the organization and the school for using racial slurs in an Instagram video, The Crimson White reports.
“We have worked so hard to build from that [racist] reputation, and our own exec [executive board members] are the ones bringing that reputation back,” one sorority sister fumed in a recent message to other Alpha Phi members.
