TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) _ The student Senate at the University of Alabama delayed considering a resolution that opposed racial segregation within the school’s fraternities and sororities, a move that killed the measure for this year.
Student government representatives voted Thursday to send the resolution to a committee rather than consider its merits.
The student newspaper, the Crimson White, reported the move meant the non-binding resolution was dead for this term of the Senate.
Resolution sponsor Chisholm Allenlundy told The Associated Press the vote ensured no one had to publicly oppose the symbolic measure, which called for the full integration of all Greek-letter groups at Alabama.
“I think that the primary reason for sending the bill to committee, as opposed to formally debating and voting on it, was to ensure that no one would have to be listed as having voted against the bill, which is admittedly an unfavorable stance for many people,” Allenlundy said Friday in an interview conducted by email.
Racial separation within the university’s social organizations became an issue last year after traditionally white sororities turned down black women as members.
Protests followed and administrators changed recruitment rules. Several previously all-white groups have since accepted black students as members.
The resolution, proposed by Allenlundy and three others, said Greek groups “benefit the campus and the community as a whole” but also have a reputation for having race-based membership. The measure said the Senate “supports the complete integration of all Greek letter fraternities and sororities at the University of Alabama, with respect to social diversity among its membership.”
Rather than discussing the contents of the resolution, Senate members voted to send it to a committee. The move effectively killed the resolution for the year since the Senate is at the end of its term, the student newspaper reported.
