The topic of racial diversity is not foreign to this state. Recently, because of coverage on racial tensions in the Greek community at the University of Alabama, questions of the racial diversity of UNA’s Greek system have also emerged.

Currently the registration records of UNA’s Greek community indicate 97 of the 667 students involved are coded as races other than Caucasian. Sixteen of these students do not have a registered race in the system, said Julie Fletcher, assistant director of Student Engagement for Greek affairs.

Fletcher believes Greek chapters are called to excellence by the principles they follow, meaning race should not be a factor in recruiting a candidate, although this has been an issue at other schools.

“Before (incidents of racial discrimination in the Greek community at Alabama) even happened, we were looking at recruitment strategies,” Fletcher said. “That was last year and PR and visibility are the primary focus for recruitment in 2014. That could possibly increase diverse students.”

Every chapter of Inter-Fraternity Council and National Panhellenic Conference at UNA has at least one minority member, Fletcher said.

“I have to commend NPC and IFC chapters on how every organization has diverse membership,” she said. “That’s great for them that they are opening their circle of membership.”

Records indicate 12 percent of IFC members are of a racial minority. This is the highest ratio of minorities within a council at UNA. NPC contains a 9 percent minority.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council currently features only African American members, with no other racial demographic being represented at this time, Fletcher said.

“I think (the numbers in all Greek chapters) could be better but it’s more about perception,” said senior Rachel Gandy, a member of a NPHC sorority. “UNA is definitely a place where you can spread your wings wherever you want to go.”

Senior Brent Barnes, who is not a part of the Greek community, had never thought about diversity ratios in the chapters before.

“I think I’d like to see those numbers increase,” Barnes said. “I know there are a lot of historically black fraternities, and it’s always cool to know that we have those here.”

Junior Sarah Ann Keeter serves as the public relations chair of NPC and believes discrimination is not a factor in the council’s recruitment process, she said.

“I don’t think there is much of an emphasis in recruiting minorities, but I also don’t think there is an emphasis on not recruiting minorities,” Keeter said. “Speaking for NPC, we are open to all women who want to go through recruitment. We have minorities represented in all of our chapters currently.”

Senior Ty Whitson, the president ofa NPHC fraternity, is not troubled by the various percentages.

“I honestly feel at UNA the numbers are actually really good,” he said. “With the university being such a small community compared to bigger universities such as Alabama and Auburn, the fact that we actually have diversity in any council is good. I don’t think there is a push at UNA to have racially diverse councils and chapters but it is accepted.”

NPHC has also had more diversity in its chapters in the past and are not opposed to it, Whitson said.

“I feel like people just ‘get in where they are comfortable’ and honestly, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he said.