Race not an issue for Greeks

Iota Phi Theta fraternity member Christian Moskovitz shares the group's principles, wears his organization's boots most days and takes pride in its history. One thing separates him from his fraternity brothers – he's white.

After deciding to participate in Greek life at The University of Memphis as a sophomore in 2009, Moskovitz said knew he wanted to change in the way people view National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities. He said most people think they are only for black students.

"I wanted to break stereotypes and show that it doesn't matter about the color of your skin," said Moskovitz, a senior majoring in sports and leisure management. NPHC organizations were created in response to the racial segregation of the 1900s.  Moskovitz said such segregation is still common here in Memphis.

 "It shouldn't be like that," Moskovitz said. "I wanted to make a change. I knew of all the popular NPHCs and I thought, ‘Do I want to be like everyone else, or do I want to make history?'"

Moskovitz is the first white person to pledge Iota in Tennessee.

"I knew it was going to be a perfect fit," Moskovitz said. "When I first joined, I know some of the guys were like, ‘Who is this white boy?' But, after a while, they were cool."

The fall he pledged, Moskovitz met Iota fraternity brothers from The University of Tennessee at Martin who had visited the Memphis chapter.

"When I was first met him, to be honest with you, I didn't notice that he was white. After getting to know him as person, I had a lot of respect for him in joining a black fraternity and going against the grain," said UT student Jern Tharpe.

 Iota was established in 1963 during the Civil Rights Movement when the nation was facing a period of heavy segregation.  

Today, there has been a growing trend in which students of an opposite race join Greek organizations that are often affiliated with a certain color, according to Justin Lawhead, assistant dean for leadership and involvement.

Moskovitz said he thinks his gesture will impact people's outlook on race and hopes to see more people stepping out of their comfort zone and following his footsteps.

"I think I made a change, and now people will see it doesn't matter what color you are to join a fraternity. Even though we're not the same color, they're still my brothers, and we treat each other as brothers," he said.

Sophomore public relations major, Brandon McCord can relate to Moskovitz entirely. McCord is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha.  

"Some people think Lambda Chi Alpha is an all-white fraternity, but its not. We have people of different races like black, Asian and Hispanic," said McCord, who is black.  

He didn't join a fraternity his first year at The U of M, but was later convinced by his friends to do so.

"I first looked at some of the NPHCs, but they didn't interest me, and then I looked at Lambda Chi because some of my Frosh Camp counselors and friends were members and I like what they stood for," McCord said.

He said the color of his skin was never a factor in which fraternity to choose.

"I didn't feel nervous or anything, I felt welcomed and plus I knew a lot of the guys already. My family is in the military so they raised me not to see color because their comrades were of different skin color," McCord said.

Dixon Williams, sophomore accounting major and member of Lambda Chi, said he never thought McCord was out of place.

"I didn't think about the color of Brandon's skin when he joined. I just knew he was a cool guy. I believe everyone should be open when choosing a frat and not think about color," Williams said.

Lawhead said he would like to see more students do research on the organizations that they are not familiar with.

"People follow what they see and I think that's the reason why there hasn't been much racial diversity in organizations. They have to change this.  Organizations need to market themselves and show what they're about so they can appeal to a wider audience and then there will be a change," he said.