My first semester as a freshman at EIU I was very interested in going greek. I went through PHC formal recruitment and am now a member of the Tri Sigma sorority. I thought that everyone could go through sorority recruitment, and they can. But what i didn't realize was the PHC sororities were typically known the "white sororities", and that there were "black sororities" on campus. The black sororities are under NPHC. My best friend that goes to a different university said they also have white and black sororities. So I decided to do do some research here's what I found out about the organizations:
NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Council) is a collaborative organization of nine historically African American, international Greek lettered fraternities and sororities.
- Established in 1930 when racial segregation plagued African Americans
- Mission Statement: “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.”
- Four sororities and five fraternities. (Also known as "The Divine 9")
- Smaller amount of members
- Member intake
- Required x amount of hours before considered
- PHC or NPC (Panhellenic Council) is an umbrella organization for 26 international women's fraternities and sororities.
- Established in 1902
- Mission Statement: "To advance the 26 women's organizations of the National Panhellenic Conference and their commitment to personal growth by raising funds for and underwriting initiatives that launch and sustain women leaders."
- Consists of 26 sororities
- Larger amount of members
- Two types of recruitment: formal, and open bidding.
- Formal recruitment consists of five rounds. (Usually consists of one day of introducing their Philanthropy,Preference night, Bid Day.)
My thoughts:
Yes, Greek Life is racially segregated. Most greek organizations were established racially segregated, but eventually did away with the racially based clauses. Unfortunately, there is still a major gab between the organizations as a whole. At my school, PHC and IFC (Interfraternity Council) pretty much only come together with NPHC during homecoming week. I think that everyone should focus more on greek unity as a whole. Not just within each organization.
