The president of a University of California, Santa Barbara, sorority is speaking out after a discrimination controversy shook the school’s Greek community and triggered an internal uprising among members.
Alana Nielsen, president of Alpha Phi, told the California Post that the dispute revealed a serious power gap between the chapter’s members and national representatives overseeing its recruitment process.
Now, angry members are pushing to reclaim control of how their sorority operates.
“Honestly, I felt sick to my stomach,” Nielsen said, recalling when she realized something was wrong. “I couldn’t imagine letting the day end without giving our members an opportunity to speak.”
The controversy began in late September, when an outside recruitment adviser was accused of discriminating against women of color during the chapter’s annual rush.
About 1,200 prospective members took part at the outset. By the first round on Sept. 26, however, that figure had reportedly fallen to roughly 250.
When Alpha Phi’s active members returned, they discovered that many women they had hoped to invite back—including candidates from diverse backgrounds—were no longer in the pool.
Nielsen said the pattern emerged slowly as the recruitment day progressed.
“It was more of a gradual realization throughout the day,” she told The Post. “As members started talking to one another and comparing their experiences, it became increasingly difficult to ignore how many women we had wanted to return were missing from the candidate pool.”
The apparent removal of candidates was particularly troubling because members had been told their evaluations would help decide which prospective sisters moved forward.
Instead, Nielsen said, members began to wonder whether their feedback had been ignored altogether.
“We had been taught to trust the people overseeing recruitment,” she said. “These were older, more experienced representatives who had been doing this for years, and we had never been in a position where we felt we needed to question the process.”
At the same time, current members of color were allegedly being sidelined from taking part in recruitment.
Sky Achola, a Black sorority member, previously told the Santa Barbara News-Press that nearly every woman of color in her sorority family group had been removed from recruitment rounds.
According to Nielsen, members were told there were not enough sisters available to staff every round.
That explanation soon faced criticism, however, as some groups were repeatedly assigned to recruitment while others were routinely excluded.
“Members could see that certain groups of women were consistently being scheduled to recruit, while many women of color were being assigned significantly fewer rounds or none at all,” Nielsen said.
With tensions mounting, Nielsen called for a meeting of the entire chapter. She did so despite an allegation that an outside representative had suggested ending the day on a “happy note” with music and dancing.
Nielsen rejected that approach.
“It felt wrong to send everyone home without acknowledging what was happening,” she said.
What followed was an emotional uprising inside the chapter house, with sisters crying, shouting and demanding answers.
Recruitment director Emerson Novosel previously described the extraordinary scene to the Daily Nexus as feeling “like a revolution happening right now.”
Nielsen said she refused to silence the women.
“Once one woman stood up, it empowered others to do the same,” she explained. “That was incredibly powerful to witness.”
The unidentified volunteer adviser, a UCSB Alpha Phi alumna who had previously assisted with recruitment, subsequently left her position.
Nielsen declined to publicly identify her, stressing that the controversy exposed deeper issues within the sorority’s recruitment system.
“For me, the larger issue isn’t just about one individual,” she said. “It’s also about the structure that allowed outside representatives to exercise so much influence over our recruitment process.”
The president said the chapter still has unanswered questions about who made decisions and how candidates were selected.
Alpha Phi International’s Health, Wellness, and Accountability department has since met with members, but Nielsen said emotional support alone isn’t enough.
“Our members aren’t only looking for emotional support,” she said. “We also want to understand how these decisions were made, what factors influenced them, and what accountability will look like moving forward.”
The chapter is now collecting written accounts from sisters and establishing a committee to overhaul its recruitment system.
Nielsen wants future outside advisers relegated to clearly defined support roles, with local members retaining control over decisions.
“We want clear procedures for how scores are used, transparency around how return decisions are made, fair and clearly explained opportunities for active members to participate in recruiting,” she said.
UCSB condemned discrimination in a statement to The Post.
“Discrimination is not tolerated at the university. Reports of discrimination are investigated by the university’s Office of Discrimination and Harassment Prevention and referred to Student Conduct as appropriate,” a university spokesperson said.
The university did not confirm whether a formal investigation into these specific allegations is underway.
Despite the ugly fallout, Nielsen insists the sisters aren’t backing down.
“Moving forward doesn’t mean moving on without accountability,” she said. “It means using this experience to build something better, with our members’ voices at the center of it.”
The California Post reached out to Alpha Phi International for comment.
