SoCal sorority president speaks out on scandal that rocked Greek life at America’s top party school: ‘Sick to my stomach’

The president of a sorority at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is breaking her silence on an explosive discrimination scandal that rocked Greek life and sparked a revolt among sisters. 

Alana Nielsen, president of Alpha Phi, told the California Post that the shocking controversy exposed a troubling power imbalance between local sorority sisters and the national representatives entrusted with overseeing their recruitment process.

And now, the furious sisters are fighting to take back control.

“Honestly, I felt sick to my stomach,” Nielsen said of the moment she realized something was seriously wrong. “I couldn’t imagine letting the day end without giving our members an opportunity to speak.”

The scandal erupted in late September after an outside recruitment adviser was accused of discriminating against women of color during the chapter’s annual rush process.

Roughly 1,200 prospective members initially participated, but that number reportedly plummeted to approximately 250 after the first round on Sept. 26.

When active sisters returned, they noticed that numerous women they had wanted to advance, including candidates from diverse backgrounds, had mysteriously vanished from the pool.

Nielsen said the troubling pattern only became apparent as the day unfolded.

“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 purge was especially disturbing because sisters had been told their evaluations would help determine which hopefuls advanced. 

Instead, Nielsen said members began questioning whether their input had been disregarded entirely.

“We had been taught to trust the people overseeing recruitment,” she explained. “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.”

Meanwhile, existing sisters of color were allegedly being excluded from recruitment activities themselves.

Black sorority member Sky Achola previously told the Santa Barbara News-Press that nearly every woman of color in her sorority family group had been removed from recruitment rounds.

Nielsen said members were told there simply weren’t enough sisters to participate in every round.

But that explanation quickly came under scrutiny as certain groups of women were repeatedly assigned recruitment rounds, while others were consistently left out. 

“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.

As tensions exploded, Nielsen pushed for a chapter-wide meeting, despite an outside representative allegedly suggesting the day end on a “happy note” with music and dancing.

The sorority president wasn’t having it.

“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.

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