Sigma Delta Tau (SDT), a national sorority on campus, has created an anti-racist plan to ensure that members of the Geneseo chapter are actively engaging in a rhetoric that perpetuates a zero-tolerance policy for racism within and beyond the sorority.
President senior Clare McKeone and Committee Member and Recruitment Chair junior Valentina Chavez said this plan was instigated to address and reform the racist and exclusionary practices that are historically perpetuated in Greek life.
“During the time of George Floyd’s death, our national advisor and other SDT alumni and sisters across the nation took a stand against our National Headquarters and stripped their letters to express their dissatisfaction with the organizations silence in response to violence against Black lives,” Chavez said.
According to an article published on June 15 by Eastern Michigan University’s newspaper The Eastern Echo, many alumni of their chapter also stripped their letters in uniform response to that of Geneseo. Since, SDT’s headquarters has released various responses via social media and email. The headquarters also newly established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee.
As recruitment chair, Chavez said that she belongs to a group chat with many SDT chapters across the country. In the chat, a member of SDT from another college expressed that her respective chapter was creating an anti-racist plan.
“I spoke with her to get some more insight and began to take steps to implement a similar plan for us here. We ourselves can’t make all of the changes within our organization at large, or our campus in particular … but I feel that to combat racial bias, we need to start within our chapter to generate change where we can … even if it is minimal,” Chavez said.
McKeone said that the anti-racist plan first appoints a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that will increase and maintain social awareness within the sorority. McKeone went on to say that those who hold positions in this committee will work collaboratively with other positions within the sorority to ensure that they are doing the same.
“The plan aims to foster and maintain safe spaces for women of color in our sorority,” McKeone said. “The plan includes an extensive list of steps that our organization will take to actively oppose prejudice in all forms.”
The plan also creates a scholarship that will be awarded to a sister of color, requires annual mandatory DICE trainings for all members and aims to establish stronger relationships with the multicultural clubs and the head of the Office of Diversity and Equity at Geneseo.
“I recently sent the plan to robbie routenberg, the chief diversity officer, for them to review and I look forward to hearing their feedback. We want to pilot this plan to the best of our ability by taking advantage of the resources available,” Chavez said.
The plan will be consolidated into a contract that sisters will have to sign, McKeone said. Those who break the contract will face serious consequences. This plan will create a formally recognized, zero tolerance policy toward racism.