National Panhellenic Conference

Early histories of sororities contain accounts of rushing and pledging agreements or compacts among sororities on various campuses, and many stories of cooperation and mutual assistance. However, no actual Panhellenic organization existed and no uniform practices were observed. The NPC's origin can be traced to 1891, when Kappa Kappa Gamma invited all seven existing sororities to a Boston meeting, with the intention to meet again in 1893.{{Cite web |title=CPC History - Valdosta State University |url=https://www.valdosta.edu/student/student-life/greek-life/college-panhellenic-council/cpc-history.php |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=www.valdosta.edu}}

In 1902, Alpha Phi invited Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, and Chi Omega to a conference in Chicago on May 24 to set standards for collegiate sororities. Alpha Chi Omega and Chi Omega were unable to attend and joined the following year. The remaining seven groups met and the session resulted in the organization of the Inter-Sorority Conference, the first interfraternity association and the first intergroup organization on college campuses. The first few meetings resulted in several mutual agreements, especially regarding pledging. Up to this time, no guidelines had been set, and women could be pledged to groups before enrolling in college and belong to more than one group. It became the National Panhellenic Conference in 1908 and the National Panhellenic Congress in 1911.

Many sororities joined through the next decade, with Alpha Xi Delta in 1904, Alpha Omicron Pi and Sigma Kappa in 1905, Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Gamma Delta and Zeta Tau Alpha in 1909, Delta Zeta in 1910, Phi Mu in 1911, and Kappa Delta in 1912. No new member organizations were admitted for the next few decades.

Throughout its early years, NPC members were often racially and religiously segregated and rarely admitted Jewish, Catholic, or ethnic minority members, which led to the formation of group-specific sororities which attempted to provide the same social and academic outlets to groups who were otherwise excluded from membership. These groups included the first Black Greek letter organizations.{{Cite journal|last=Hughey|first=Matthew W.|date=2010-11-01|title=A Paradox of Participation: Nonwhites in White Sororities and Fraternities|url=https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article/57/4/653/1667281|journal=Social Problems|language=en|volume=57|issue=4|pages=653–679|doi=10.1525/sp.2010.57.4.653|issn=0037-7791|url-access=subscription}}

In 1917, it changed back to the National Panhellenic Conference, only to returned to the National Panhellenic Congress name in 1921. By 1922, the NPC had an executive committee consisting of a chairman, secretary, and treasurer; a publicity board; and a delegate board with at least one representative from each of its eighteen senior members.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dPDmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA260|title=Banta's Greek Exchange: Published in the Interest of the College Fraternity World|publisher=George Banta Company|year=1922|pages=260}} That year, the congress also began plans for a centralized headquarters to coordinate and streamline interactions with the separate sororities.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dPDmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA260|title=Banta's Greek Exchange: Published in the Interest of the College Fraternity World|publisher=George Banta Company|year=1922|pages=219|language=en}}

The Association of Education Sororities (AES) merged with NPC in 1947. Shortly before its merger with the NPC, the AES was part of a larger multi-panhellenic association, the Council of Affiliated Panhellenics. Created in 1941, it included the AES, NPC, and Professional Panhellenic Association as members.{{Cite magazine|last=Mansell|first=Edith L.|date=October 1945|title=The Report on the Association of Education Sororities|url=https://issuu.com/alphasigmatau/docs/1945_november_anchor|magazine=The Anchor|access-date=2018-06-11}} At the time of its merger with NPC, AES included six member organizations.

In 1945, NPC returned to its current name of the National Panhellenic Conference. From the 1940s to the 1960s, various smaller organizations merged into larger ones. On some campuses with two different chapters from merged sororities, a third sorority would organize on the campus to absorb the smaller sorority's former chapter.{{Cite news |date=2013-05-07 |title=On National Teacher Appreciation Day: SIUC and the AES / NPC Merger - Fraternity History & More |url=http://www.franbecque.com/2013/05/07/on-national-teacher-appreciation-day-siuc-and-the-aes-npc-merger/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142555/http://www.franbecque.com/2013/05/07/on-national-teacher-appreciation-day-siuc-and-the-aes-npc-merger/ |archive-date=2018-06-12 |access-date=2018-06-11 |work=Fraternity History & More |language=en-US}} By the end of the 1960s and the civil rights movement, NPC sororities eliminated official policies that prevented minority members from joining, although diversity in Greek life remained an issue.{{Cite news |last=Grasgreen |first=Allie |date=2013-09-13 |title=Segregated sororities not limited to Alabama, experts say |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/19/segregated-sororities-not-limited-alabama-experts-say |access-date=2018-11-08 |work=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Clio |date=2015-02-25 |title=Sorority Segregation Is a Serious Issue |url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/02/25/sorority-segregation-is-a-serious-issue |access-date=2018-11-07 |work=US News}}

As of the 2010s, sorority members and outside observers noticed a shift in sorority culture; though sororities began as feminist organizations, emphasis during the mid-1900s on social reputations and exclusionary recruitment policies (such as a refusal to recruit Jewish and African-American women) led to a reputation for following cultural hegemony and being made up of upper-class white women.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/fashion/sorority-ivy-league-feminists.html|title=When a Feminist Pledges a Sorority|last=Bennett|first=Jessica|work=The New York Times |date=9 April 2016 |access-date=2018-11-07|language=en}} Though such issues continue to persist in various ways, sorority and anti-sorority women alike observed sororities becoming more ethnically diverse and moving away from traditional power structures towards their feminist roots. In the 2010s, sorority members began attempts to change how sororities work from within.

In November 2015, eight NPC members (Alpha Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Phi Mu, Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Delta Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Gamma, and Gamma Phi Beta) broke ranks from the NPC to withdraw their support for the Safe Campus Act, a controversial bill that would have required campus sexual assault victims to report to police and submit to a law enforcement investigation before their school could begin its own investigation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/phi-mu-alpha-gamma-delta-safe-campus-act_us_5645f573e4b045bf3deead24|title=Several Sororities Back Away From Safe Campus Act|last=Kingkade|first=Tyler|date=2015-11-13|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2018-11-07|language=en-US}}

In 2016, collegiate members began discussing membership offers for transgender women, which was supported by some national organizations with changes to their national policies;{{Cite news|url=http://cw.ua.edu/35803/news/sorority-opens-to-transgender-pledges/|title=Sorority opens to transgender pledges|last=Milbourn|first=Annie|work=The Crimson White|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=http://tv.ku.edu/2016/11/panhellenic-encouraging-transgender-women-to-join-sororities/|title=Panhellenic Encouraging Transgender Women to Join Sororities – KUJH-TV|website=tv.ku.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-11-08}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/12/panhellenic-association-encourages-discussions-about-transgender-membership|title=Panhellenic Association encourages discussions about transgender membership - Indiana Daily Student|website=www.idsnews.com|access-date=2018-11-08}} however, some national organizations delayed membership offers for trans women due to fears about Title IX exemption status, which caused dissent in local chapters.{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/47-sorority-members-walk-told-hold-off-inviting/story?id=43442507|title=Sorority Members Walk Out When Told to 'Hold Off' on Transgender Member|date=2016-11-11|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2018-11-07}} Though the NPC created a gender identity study group to examine potential legal consequences, they concluded that the legal precedents were "incomplete, inconclusive, and inconsistent," and did not enact official policy or recommendations.{{Cite book |url=https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2017/11/Branded-Gender-Identity-August-2017.pdf |title=NPC Gender Identity Study Group |publisher=National Panhellenic Conference |year=2017 |location=Indianapolis |page=11 |chapter=Appendix C: Overview of the legal considerations |access-date=May 8, 2025 |chapter-url= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108065702/https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2017/11/Branded-Gender-Identity-August-2017.pdf |archive-date=November 8, 2018 |url-status=dead}}

By 2021, most national organizations had released political statements on racial and social equity and inclusion, while also developing membership policies regarding gender identity. Delta Phi Epsilon developed a policy explicitly open to trans and non-binary individuals,{{Cite web|title=Delta Phi Epsilon {{!}} Delta Phi Epsilon Trans Woman and Non-Binary Gender Policy|url=https://dphie.org/delta-phi-epsilon-trans-woman-and-non-binary-gender-policy/|access-date=2021-07-04|language=en-US}} and sororities open to anyone who identifies as a woman include: Alpha Chi Omega,{{Cite web|last=Weiss|first=Suzannah|date=2017-03-14|title=U.S. Sorority Accepts Trans Women Nationwide for the First Time|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/us-sorority-opens-its-doors-to-trans-women-nationwide|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Glamour|language=en-US}} Alpha Delta Pi,{{Cite web|title=Inclusion in Alpha Delta Pi|url=https://www.alphadeltapi.org/inclusion/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Alpha Delta Pi}} Alpha Epsilon Phi,{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=Emerson Today|date=2017-09-20|title=With National Policy Move, All Emerson Sororities Officially Inclusive|url=https://today.emerson.edu/2017/09/20/with-national-policy-move-all-emerson-sororities-officially-inclusive/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Emerson Today|language=en-US}} Alpha Sigma Tau,{{Cite web|date=2017-01-13|title=Membership Eligibility|url=https://alphasigmatau.org/join/membership-eligibility/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Alpha Sigma Tau|language=en-US}} Chi Omega,{{Cite web|title=Chi Omega and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion|url=https://chiomega.com/chi-omega-and-diversity-equity-inclusion/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Chi Omega|language=en-US}} Delta Gamma,{{Cite web|title=Our Story|url=https://www.deltagamma.org/ourstory|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Delta Gamma}} Gamma Phi Beta,{{Cite web|title=Meet Gamma Phi Beta|url=https://www.gammaphibeta.org/Membership/About-Our-Membership/Join-Gamma-Phi-Beta|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Gamma Phi Beta}} Kappa Alpha Theta,{{Cite web|title=Recruitment Information|url=https://www.kappaalphatheta.org/join-theta/recruitment-information|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Kappa Alpha Theta|language=en-US}} Kappa Delta,{{Cite web|title=Join KD|url=https://kappadelta.org/collegiate-experience/join-kd/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Kappa Delta Sorority}} Kappa Kappa Gamma,{{Cite web|title=Position Statement|url=https://www.kappakappagamma.org/Kappa/MediaFraternity.aspx?pageid=3633&id=3532|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Kappa Kappa Gamma}} Phi Sigma Sigma,{{Cite web|title=Our Expectations|url=https://www.onephisigmasigma.org/expectations|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Phi Sigma Sigma|language=en}} Sigma Sigma Sigma,{{Cite web|title=Policies and Position Statements|url=https://www.trisigma.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Policies-and-Positions-Statements-July-2016.pdf|website=Tri Sigma}} and Theta Phi Alpha.{{Cite web |title=Trans Inclusion |url=https://www.thetaphialpha.org/trans-inclusion |access-date=2021-07-04 |website=Theta Phi Alpha}} Sororities open to anyone who identifies and lives as a woman include: Alpha Gamma Delta,{{Cite web|title=Why Join Alpha Gam?|url=https://alphagammadelta.org/join-alpha-gamma-delta/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Alpha Gamma Delta|language=en-US}} Alpha Omicron Pi,{{Cite web|last=ALPHA OMICRON PI|title=Book of Policies, Policy 9 – Diversity Policy|url=https://www.alphaomicronpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Diversity-Policy-May2021.pdf}} Alpha Xi Delta,{{Cite web|title=Policies|url=https://www.alphaxidelta.org/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Alpha Xi Delta|language=en}} Delta Delta Delta,{{Cite web|date=2018-02-18|title=Our Commitment to Kindness|url=https://www.tridelta.org/the-trident/commitment-kindness/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Tri Delta|language=en-US}} Pi Beta Phi,{{Cite web|title=Join Pi Phi|url=https://www.pibetaphi.org/join|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Pi Beta Phi Fraternity For Women}} Sigma Delta Tau,{{Cite web|title=FAQ|url=https://sigmadeltatau.org/join-us/parentsfamilies/faq/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Sigma Delta Tau}} and Sigma Kappa,{{cite web |title=Membership Responsibilities |url=https://sigmakappa.org/collegiate-life/membership-responsibilities/ |access-date=4 September 2018 |website=Sigma Kappa |language=en}} while Zeta Tau Alpha specifies that the individual must consistently identify and live as a woman.{{Cite web|title=Membership Policy Update|url=https://zetataualpha.org/news/membership-policy-update|access-date=2021-07-04|website=Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity|language=en-US}}

Panhellenic ({{lit|all-Greek}}) is the Greek word for "All Greek"{{Cite web |title=The Difference between NPC Sororities, Cultural Sororities, and NPHC Sororities {{!}} Fraternity & Sorority Life |url=https://fraternitysorority.ucmerced.edu/how-join/difference-between-npc-sororities-cultural-sororities-and-nphc-sororities#:~:text=Panhellenic%20is%20derived%20from%20the,,%20social,%20and%20moral%20standards. |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=University of California, Merced}} and was selected to refer to the group's members being autonomous social Greek-letter societies of college women and alumnae.

The National Panhellenic Conference adopted its coat of arms in 1975.{{Cite book |url=https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2018/01/manual-of-information-2018.pdf |title=Manual of Information |date=January 2018 |publisher=National Panhellenic Conference |edition=23 |page= |pages=12-13 |language=en |access-date=May 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618075328/https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2018/01/manual-of-information-2018.pdf |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=dead}} It features shield that symbolizes protection. On the shield is a laurel wreath that represents victory and the achievement of NPC ideals. The wreath is pierced by a sword that shows bravery, the "penalty of obligation", and a "willingness to fight for ideals". Above the shield is a lamp that symbolizes enlightenment, leadership, and scholarship. The shield is surrounded by a protective cloak, symbolizing education and the influence of NPC. Below and to the side of the shield is the mantle with the name National Panhellenic Conference. NPC's color is Kelly green.

Following are the current members of the National Panhellenic Conference.

Following are formed members of the National Panhellenic Conference.{{Cite news |last=Becque |first=Fran |date=2015-03-02 |title=NPC Organizations That No Longer Exist; A Reflection on International Badge Day - Fraternity History & More |url=https://www.fraternityhistory.com/npc-organizations-no-longer-exist-reflection-international-badge-day/ |access-date=2018-11-26 |work=Fraternity History & More |language=en-US}}

Throughout its history the NPC Executive Board has been led by a chairman.[https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2017/10/Adventure-in-Friendship-2017-Web.pdf Adventure in Friendship pp. 4, 12] In 2018 the NPC Board of Directors voted to change its governance model. As of 2021, members rotate onto the board in the order their organization joined the NPC, but the chairman is now elected.{{cite web |title=NPC Manual of Information, 21st Edition (2021) |url=https://www.npcwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2017/11/NPC-Manual-of-Information.pdf |publisher=National Panhellenic Conference |access-date=7 July 2021 |page=7}}

A Panhellenic Council consists of executive board members at each university or college. Each institution holds different executive positions based on its size and the NPC's relationship with it. The basic positions at each institution are president, vice president of communications, vice president of finance, vice president of philanthropy and community service, vice president of programming, vice president of recruitment, vice president of scholarship, and vice president of judicial.{{Cite web |date=2021-09-30 |title=Panhellenic Position Descriptions |url=https://vtpanhellenic.org/panhellenic-position-descriptions/ |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=Virginia Tech Panhellenic |language=en-US}} The number of positions is based on the number of NPC sororities at each institution. Along with the delegates each being a representative from their sorority, the executive board includes a member from each sorority as well.

• List of social sororities and women's fraternities

{{Reflist}}

{{National Panhellenic Conference}}

{{Greek Umbrella Organizations}}

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Category:Student organizations established in 1902

Category:Student societies in the United States

Category:1902 establishments in Illinois

Category:Greek letter umbrella organizations

Category:Women's organizations based in the United States