Joint response from the 4 Greek Councils of The University of Alabama
We are aware and fully acknowledge that over the years, there have been hateful actions and
words that have caused tension within our Greek and campus community. While we know that
these incidents are not specific to one council that does not mean that each council does not
have a responsibility to respond. Furthermore, we acknowledge that these incidents have had
and continue to have varying effects on individual members, particularly our minority members
within each of the four the Greek Councils. We also recognize that there are members of our
Alabama community who are not Greek affiliated who have been heavily affected, and we
support these individuals as well. This is not the time for silence, finger-ˇpointing, or ignoring the
issue at hand. There must be a culture change within our community and each of the Greek
Governing Councils has a responsibility to uphold what it means to respect member individuality
and create a truly diverse and welcoming atmosphere for all those who attend the Capstone.
We are more than saddened and apologetic about the recent racially biased incident. We
acknowledge the feelings of not only the Greek community, but also the greater campus as a
whole. We respect the anger and calls for change that have been made and we intend to work
together to achieve a climate of acceptance, respect, and inclusivity, which is free from hatred
and bigotry. Not only do these actions not represent our values, they do not fall in line with the
expectations we have for our members. Most importantly, this malicious behavior does not align
with The University of Alabama Capstone Creed and as such, cannot and should not be
tolerated.
Moving forward, we expect our members and our member organizations to evaluate and uphold
their accountability processes. With the National Pan-ˇHellenic Council being an integral part of
the UA Greek community, there is an increased expectation and demand that these acts of
hatred come to an end. The recurrence of incidents of this nature and the problems within our
community and campus culture are things that we recognize and collectively aim to
eliminate. Words must be backed by action;; therefore, it is important that together, we create a
foundation of human decency and respect that begins with the recruitment of members and
includes collaborative involvement amongst organizations and councils, which includes a robust
accountability process.
Lexi Matallana
Alabama Panhellenic Association President
Vincent Zicarelli
Alabama Interfraternity Council President
Tyler Flowers
Alabama National Pan-ˇHellenic Council President
Veronica Pisani
Alabama United Greek Council President
The Alabama Panhellenic Association has high expectations for our council leaders, member
organizations, and individual members. Our Code of Ethics outlines the ways in which our
members are expected to behave and our chapters are expected to exercise accountability, in
order to foster an inclusive community. APA demands that any member organization that fails to
meet these standards fully evaluate the state of the chapter and recommends that the
inter/national organization enact the following changes:
A full membership review of the chapter. This review should be done with the
intention of realigning the values and beliefs of individual members with the
organization as whole.During this time and in the following semesters, we expect to see a loss of social
privileges for both on and off-ˇcampus social events, including but not limited to
cohosted events, sorority sponsored events, and partnered competitions such as
Greek Week and Homecoming. This time should be used to reconsider the goals
and identity of the chapter.A complete evaluation of the membership selection process. This should include
an examination of the way decisions are made during recruitment, to include the
values, beliefs, and identities of the women being recruited.
Lexi Matallana
Alabama Panhellenic Association President