National Greek leader calls for organizational rebranding

Rasheed Ali Cromwell is out to change the image of the National Panhellenic Council. 

Black Greek Letter Organizations, or BGLOs, Cromwell said, have lost sight of their commitment to leadership amid media-created stereotypes.

“You have one African-American governor, commonwealth of Massachusetts. You have, from New Jersey, an African-American senator. You have the first African-American president from the United States,” Cromwell said, citing Deval Patrick, Cory Booker and Barack Obama, respectively. “None of which are from black Greek fraternities.”

Cromwell, an attorney at Harbor Institute, an educational consulting firm located in Washington, D.C. educated students on his plan to reform the image of black Greek Life at an event titled “All We Do is Step and Stroll?!: What is BGLO?” at 9 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union. The National Panhellenic Council hosted the event.

William Griffin, president of the National Panhellenic Council, invited Cromwell to Pitt because Griffin believes in Cromwell’s mission.

“It’s important for people to know. It’s not like what you might see on TV — like ‘Stomp the Yard’ or ‘Animal House’ …  and ‘Monsters University,’ recently — probably not the best depiction of what Greek Life is all about,” Griffin said. 

Cromwell began by addressing the lineage of BGLOs. Black fraternities formed after white fraternities rejected prospective members.

“If you’re not going to let us join, we’re just going to start our own,” Cromwell said, describing the mentality of the original council members.  

The inception of the first black fraternity was Alpha Phi Alpha in 1906 at Cornell University. In 1922, Sigma Sigma Ro followed as the first black sorority. 

Cromwell charted the history of famous black National Panhellenic Council fraternity brothers, including Martin Luther King Jr. He said members are historically marked with reputations of respect and leadership. 

But for Cromwell, the ideals of National Panhellenic Council fraternities have been distorted in popular culture.

Cromwell said the media has stereotyped BGLOs as a group of “stepping and strolling fraternities and sororities.” 

Stepping is a form of dancing with Western African roots, Griffin said, that evolved from various African dances and an era of slavery. The rhythmic dance involves full body movements that usually depict a story. Strolling is stepping to contemporary music. 

Cromwell added that movies, including the “Stomp the Yard” franchise, distort the intended culture of the National Panhellenic Council. 

“There a lot of traditions, a lot of customs, especially in African-American culture, that become exploited,” Cromwell said. “They become commercialized. … They lose the essence of what the true purpose of the traditions and cultures are all about.” 

Alyssa Generali, a Pitt sophomore majoring in communications and Italian, said she agrees that stereotypes of black Greek Life must be eliminated.

“It definitely dispelled a lot of the stereotypes, like all they do is step and stroll. Obviously, they don’t. There’s the social aspect and community service — sisterhood and brotherhood,” Generali said.