University of Alabama sorority recruitment video garners national attention

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBf6BUQzYgA
(Video above: Sorority recruitment videos are typically produced to attract potential new members, however, this recruitment video from University of Alabama’s Alpha Phi 2015 has received national backlash.)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Alpha Phi sorority chapter has attracted more than just new members with its 2015 recruitment video, it has also garnered the attention of several national news outlets.

The recruitment video portrays its members laughing, dancing, and frolicking around their sorority house, campus, a lake and even Bryant Denny Stadium, but a  controversy surrounding the video has sprung up from what some commentators say is the objectification of the young women, only highlighting their appearances.

Although the video has since been removed by Alpha Phi, the controversy around the video is still prominent, being featured on USA Today, New York Daily News, Today News, and even E! Online and Cosmopolitan.

One Alabama writer even claimed the video is “worse for women than Donald Trump,” pulling the comparison from comments the businessman and presidential candidate made during and after the recent Republican debate, including what some deemed a sexist Tweet about Fox News host Megyn Kelly.

Still more of backlash the video has received is due to it being perceived as too “racially-homogenous.” The sorority recruitment video features 72 members of Alpha Phi, but some critics find the video reflects the lack of diversity of the university’s Greek system and the University of Alabama as a whole.

University of Alabama Associate Vice President for University Relations Deborah Lane, in a statement about the video, said it “is not reflective of UA’s expectations for student organizations to be responsible digital citizens. It is important for student organizations to remember what is posted on social media makes a difference, today and tomorrow, on how they are viewed and perceived.”

Despite the negative press brought by the video toward the university’s Greek system, 2,261 women were added to its sororities during Rush Week, 214 of whom the University says are minorities.