College: a time to grow, open your mind, and relish learning other point of views. It's a time to meet new people, and learn from those with different interests and experiences.

But what if you find your college classmates--or yourself--missing out on these aspects of higher education?

That is the concern at the University of Alabama, where many students and administrators look towards fraternities and sororities as the worst examples of human nature.

Could organizations that promote bonds of sisterhood and brotherhood really be working towards an opposite goal...racial segregation?

From Inside Higher Ed:Many had thought that the integration of the university's sororities and fraternities would progress after Carla Ferguson, an African-American student, was offered membership in the Gamma Phi Beta sorority in 2003. More than two years later, Ferguson remains the only black woman to have been accepted into any of the 15 "traditionally white" sororities. The situation is similar at the approximately 30 "traditionally white" fraternities on campus, where students say that only one or two African-American males have ever been admitted.

"Most kids in the Greek system [here] have strange boundaries," said Samantha Perry, a senior and former member of Alpha Delta Pi. "Their mentality is like, 'I'm not racist, I have black friends' but I don't want to recognize them as a sister or brother."

Despite the fact that frats and sororities are private organizations, paid for by student dues, some say that administrators should be taking on integration issues more directly.

"Integration hasn't happened," said David Roskos-Ewoldsen, a professor of psychology who has been at the university for 15 years. "And the university hasn't made the kind of commitment to it that it should."

What do you think? Should students or administrators step in to demand change? Is it something that will evolve naturally? Should this issue be a concern? If so, what should the next step be? Please share your thoughts with us in the Comments section.

(Photo source: Alabama Alumni )