National Pan-Hellenic Council

The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella organization composed of historically African American collegiate Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities. The nine NPHC organizations are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Divine Nine (D9)". The member/partner organizations have not formally adopted nor recommended the use of this term to describe their collaborative grouping. The NPHC was formed as a permanent organization on May 10, 1930 on the campus of Howard University, in Washington, D.C. with Matthew W. Bullock as the active Chairman and B. Beatrix Scott as Vice-Chairman. NPHC was incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois in 1937 and is headquartered in Decatur, Georgia.

Not to be confused with National Panhellenic Conference.
National Pan-Hellenic Council
NicknameDivine Nine
FoundedMay 10, 1930 (1930-05-10)
Founded atHoward University
TypeCoalition of members
HeadquartersDecatur, Georgia
Websitehttps://nphchq.com/millennium1/

The council promotes interaction through forums, meetings, and other media for the exchange of information and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives through various activities and functions.

Each constituent member organization determines its own strategic direction and program agenda. Today, the primary purpose and focus of member organizations remains camaraderie and academic excellence for its members and service to the communities they serve. Each promotes community awareness and action through educational, economic, and cultural service activities.

History

The National Pan-Hellenic Council was established in an era when Greek letter organizations founded by African Americans were banned from being affiliated with Greek letter organizations founded by whites.[1]

The organization's stated purpose and mission in 1930:

Unanimity of thought and action as far as possible in the conduct of Greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities, and to consider problems of mutual interest to its member organizations.[2]

The founding members of the NPHC were Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, and Zeta Phi Beta. The council's membership expanded as Alpha Phi Alpha (1931), Phi Beta Sigma (1931), Sigma Gamma Rho (1937), and Iota Phi Theta (1996) joined this coalition of Black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs). In his book on BGLOs, The Divine Nine: The History of African-American Fraternities and Sororities in America (2001), Lawrence Ross coined the phrase "The Divine Nine" when referring to the coalition.[3]

Marcia Fudge speaking at the 2017 National Pan-Hellenic Council Forum.

As required by various campus recognition policies, neither the NPHC, nor its member national or chapter organizations discriminate on the basis of race or religion.

In 1992, the first permanent national office for NPHC was established in Bloomington, Indiana on the campus of Indiana University through the joint cooperation of Indiana University and the National Board of Directors of NPHC. Prior to its establishment, for over a 62-year period, the national office would sojourn from one officer to the next.[2]

Members

The members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council are shown below in order of founding:[2]

Member Greek Symbol Founded Incorporated Colors Headquarters Chapters Members NPHC Notes
Alpha Phi Alpha ΑΦΑ (1906-12-04) December 4, 1906
Cornell University		 April 3rd, 1912   Black
  Old gold		 Baltimore, Maryland 706[4] 200,000[4] 1931 First intercollegiate African American fraternity.
First of all NPHC organizations.
Alpha Kappa Alpha ΑΚΑ (1908-01-15) January 15, 1908
Howard University		 January 29, 1913   Salmon Pink
  Apple Green		 Chicago, Illinois 1,005[5] 290,000[5] 1930 First intercollegiate African American sorority.
First sorority of the NPHC.
Kappa Alpha Psi ΚΑΨ (1911-01-05) January 5, 1911
Indiana University
as Kappa Alpha Nu		 May 15, 1911   Crimson
  Cream		 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 720 160,000 1930 First NPHC organization to be legally incorporated.
Omega Psi Phi ΩΨΦ (1911-11-17) November 17, 1911
Howard University		 October 28, 1914   Royal purple
  Old gold		 Decatur, Georgia 750 1930 First NPHC fraternity to be founded at an HBCU.
Delta Sigma Theta ΔΣΘ (1913-01-13) January 13, 1913
Howard University		 January 20, 1930   Crimson
  Cream		 Washington, D.C. over 940[6]
(including alumnae chapters)		 1930 Largest African American sorority to date.
Phi Beta Sigma ΦΒΣ (1914-01-09) January 9, 1914
Howard University		 January 30, 1920   Royal blue
  White		 Washington, D.C. 740 185,000 1931 Only NPHC fraternity constitutionally bound with a sorority (Zeta Phi Beta).
Zeta Phi Beta ΖΦΒ (1920-01-16) January 16, 1920
Howard University		 March 30, 1923   Royal blue
  White		 Washington, D.C. 800 1930 Only NPHC sorority constitutionally bound with a fraternity (Phi Beta Sigma).
Sigma Gamma Rho ΣΓΡ (1922-11-12) November 12, 1922
Butler University		 December 30, 1929   Royal blue
  Gold		 Cary, North Carolina 700 85,000+ 1937 Only NPHC sorority founded at a predominately White institution.
Iota Phi Theta ΙΦΘ (1963-09-19) September 19, 1963
Morgan State University		 November 1, 1968   Charcoal brown
  Gilded gold		 Baltimore, Maryland 300 30,000[7] 1996 Last NPHC organization to be founded.

Traditional Greek housing

Traditional Greek housing amongst NPHC organizations is rare. Unlike most National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) organizations that have many traditional Greek houses primarily for undergraduate members on or near their college campuses, NPHC organizations have a small few. Most of the few existing NPHC organization houses are untraditional and unaffiliated with a college. In recent years, a growing number of undergraduate chapters of NPHC organizations have advocated for convenient traditional Greek housing. In substitute of it, some undergraduate chapters have small outdoor Greek plots to help substantiate their presence on campus.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

See also

References
  1. Gillon, Kathleen E.; Beatty, Cameron C.; Salinas, Cristobal (2019). "Race and Racism in Fraternity and Sorority Life: A Historical Overview". New Directions for Student Services. 2019 (165): 9–16. doi:10.1002/ss.20289.
  2. "About the National Pan-Hellenic Council". nphchq.org. Archived from the original on 2009-12-22. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
    • Ross, Jr, Lawrence (2001). The Divine Nine: The History of African-American Fraternities and Sororities in America. New York: Kensington. pp. 37–38. ISBN 0-7582-0325-X.
  4. "Home". Alpha Phi Alpha. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  5. "Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc". aka1908.com. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  6. Delta Sigma Theta website Archived 2016-04-12 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  7. "Iota Phi Theta® Fraternity Inc. | Founded 1963 - Chapter Locator". www.iotaphitheta.org. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  8. https://thedmonline.com/black-fraternity-houses/
  9. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2018/08/black-greek-life-0822
  10. https://thedepauw.com/mgc-and-nphc-houses-still-not-on-campus-maps/
  11. https://www.memphisflyer.com/NewsBlog/archives/2019/08/16/u-of-m-students-look-to-raise-funds-for-african-american-greek-organizations
  12. http://www.charlottedst.org/aboutus/membership.html
  13. https://www.studentprintz.com/white-vs-black-greek-life-theres-a-greek-letter-for-everyone/
  14. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2019/01/greek-life-has-lost-its-identity-at-iu
  15. https://themsuspokesman.com/8240/campus-news/greek-plots-return-to-morgans-campus/
  16. https://www.34st.com/article/2017/03/black-greek-life-at-penn

Further reading
  • Brown, Tamara L., Gregory S. Parks, and Clarenda M. Phillips. (2005). African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2344-8.
  • Parks, Gregory Scott. (2008). Black Greek-Letter Organizations in the 21st Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2491-9.
  • Skocpol, Theda, Ariane Liazos, and Marshall Ganz. (2006). What a Mighty Power We Can Be: African American Fraternal Groups and the Struggle for Racial Equality . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12299-1.

Official website

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.