by patta steele
“It was weird. It was just so weird! Everyone was white!”
Joanne Moisa giggled as she remembered the first time she ever walked down 28th Street.
“It was the night after the USC-UCLA game,” she said. “My boyfriend and I were coming over to to visit my brother, who lives near USC, and as we were coming down Hoover we saw this huge fire in the middle of 28th Street. We parked the car and went down to see what was happening.
“There were parties going on everywhere, bands were playing at nearly every house, people were all out in the street and the police were just standing around not doing anything.
“We went to the parties to get beer—they were handing it out to everybody. We were never refused or anything and no one was unfriendly. They just all seemed to know each other. No one really paid much attention to us. They were pretty drunk.”
JOANNE AND her boyfriend are Chicanos who live in East Los Angeles. Joanne’s reaction is not unlike that of many minority students who visit the Row for the first time. They’re surprised at the overwhelming majority of whites w ho live there.
However, the whiteness of the Row is becomming increasingly colored by minority students who go through rush and decide to pledge a house. The past five years have definitely brought more Oriental, Chicano and Black students to the Row —whether they are there only for a quick look or to actually pledge a house.
The number of minority students who have shown an interest in becoming a part of the traditionally segregated life on 28th Street is comparatively small, but each fall rush brings a few more minority students and each year a few more decide to make the lifestyle of 28th Street their own.
Many minority students were never aware they had the option to go through rush if they wanted to. Others say they know of the opportunity to rush but they figured it would be a waste because it seemed their chances of getting a bid (an invitation to pledge) from a house were slim. The Row’s white facade discourages some minority students and they choose to stay more in groups with other minority students rather than venture out and risk feelings of isolation from their minority friends if they pledged.
In an attempt to bring minority students of similar backgrounds together in clubs or organizations, new sororities and fraternities have been formed. Most of them are only local organizations but a few have expanded and affiliated with national chapters.
TWO SUCH sororities on campus offer membership to Orien-tal women. Both are local sororities and their goals are similar.
“We are a little bit of everything.” said Karen Inoye. the president of Sigma Phi Omega. "We have girls w ho join because of that. We have social functions but we also do things a service organization does.”
Have the number of Oriental women choosing to go through Panhellenic rush taken away from your membership?
“I don’t see where it has detracted from us at all,” Inoye said. “Some girls go through rush and then decide they would rather join us.”
Would you take someone other than an Oriental?
“I DON’T see why not,” she said. “If she really wanted to be a member she would be
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“Everyone was white!”