A University of Alabama sorority kicked out a member and removed its president over a racist text message comparing a smelly bar to black girls, according to a report.
Screenshots from a private group message sent among some Alpha Phi members showed the sorority’s president, Katherine Anthony, took note of the shoddy conditions inside a Tuscaloosa bar, school newspaper the Crimson White reported Saturday.
“I’m gonna yack, it smells so bad in here,” Anthony wrote her sorority sisters.
Another member, Kylie Klueger, agreed while describing what she thought the bar smelled like, screenshots showed.
“Cigs, weed and black girl,” Klueger replied.
The sorority terminated Klueger’s membership and threw out Anthony as its president after the messages surfaced online last week, the student newspaper reported.
Alpha Phi confirmed in a statement Thursday it learned one of its members had used “racist and hateful” language in a group text message.
“We immediately launched our chapter’s judiciary board process,” the statement read. “The person who sent the text message is no longer a member of our organization, and the other people in the group messages will be held accountable based on the conclusion of our judiciary board process.”
The statement also noted the “harm and trauma” caused by the exposed message.
“As Alpha Phis, we aim to celebrate diversity and do our part to make Alabama more inclusive,” the sorority’s statement continued. “Unfortunately, the recent actions of those affiliated with our organization do not adhere to the standards we hold of our members.”
Anthony and Klueger did not return requests for comments from the Crimson White late last week, the student newspaper reported. Attempts by The Post to immediately reach them Monday were unsuccessful.
Some other sorority sisters, meanwhile, told the newspaper anonymously they plan to leave Alpha Phi due to the messages and the organization’s response.
Alpha Phi International did not respond to requests for comment, the Crimson White reported.
The Alabama Panhellenic Association, meanwhile, said a statement Sunday that it was “gravely disappointed” by the “offensive” message.
“APA recognizes that each of our members represent not only their chapter, but also the Panhellenic community as a whole,” the statement read. “We require a much higher standard of inclusivity of our member organizations, and we hold each organization accountable for enforcing these standards among their members.”
