It looks as though two cast members of VH1’s Sorority Sisters have been suspended from their sorority. April McRae and Joy Hammond are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, and according to Lawrence Ross, author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities, AKA’s official website shows that the women were suspended.
McRae and Hammond are members of the Chi Tau Omega and Lambda Epsilon Omega chapters, respectively. Their suspension date started on Dec. 26, 2014, and will be in effect until July 15, 2016.
Their show has had its fair share of controversy, including petitions and calls for boycotts since it debuted in December. Several advertisers removed their commercials from the show’s time slot after being urged by disgruntled viewers on Twitter. Members of the cast have even complained about receiving death threats.
Alpha Kappa Alpha also condemned the show with a statement posted on its official site:
As leaders of the four historically African American sororities, we are united in our belief that Sorority Sisters, which aired Monday, December 15, 2014 on VH1, poses a shameful affront to our proud legacies of service, scholarship and sisterhood.
For more than a century, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated; and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated, have been at the vanguard of positive social change and served as repositories for women with shared ideals.
As such, we are saddened by the producers’ desire to elevate harmful, negative, and stereotypical imagery of African American women in their quest for ratings. Moreover, these cast members willfully misrepresent the ideals of our illustrious organizations, betray the privilege of membership bestowed upon them, undermine our collective promise to uplift communities and each other, and detract from the transformative programs carried out by our members worldwide. This cast, these plotlines and the entire show premise represent the antithesis of who we are as African American women, sorority sisters and friends.
On behalf of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated; and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated, we condemn this television show for its exploitation and degradation of our organizations and African American women everywhere.
One has to wonder if McRae and Hammond feel that it was worth appearing on Sorority Sisters and subsequently being suspended from the actual sorority they belong to.