| Founding Location: | Howard University |
| Type: | Trade association |
| Headquarters: | P. O. Box 5821 |
| Location City: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Nickname: | Divine Nine |
| Members: | 9 |
| Website: | NPHC National website |
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities, commonly called the Divine Nine, and also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). 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.[1]
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.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council was established during the Jim Crow era when Greek letter collegiate organizations founded by white Americans did not want to be affiliated with Greek letter collegiate organizations founded by African Americans.[2]
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.[3]
The founding members of the NPHC were Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, 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) later joined. 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.[4] 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.[3]
The members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council are shown below in order of founding:[3]
| Name | Greek letters | Type | Founding date | Founding university | Headquarters | Chapters | Total initiates | Joined | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Phi Alpha | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΑΦΑ | Fraternity | 4 December 1906 | Cornell University | Baltimore, Maryland | 706 [5] | 200,000 | 1931 | First intercollegiate African American fraternity. Only NPHC organization to be founded at an Ivy League university. | |
| Alpha Kappa Alpha | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΑΚΑ | Sorority | 15 January 1908 | Howard University | Chicago, Illinois | 1,074 [6] | 360,000 | 1930 | First intercollegiate African American sorority. First NPHC sorority to be nationally incorporated. | |
| Kappa Alpha Psi | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΚΑΨ | Fraternity | 5 January 1911 | Indiana University Bloomington | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 649 (active undergraduate & alumni chapters) [7] | 250,000+ | 1930 | Founded as Kappa Alpha Nu. First NPHC organization to be nationally incorporated. | |
| Omega Psi Phi | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΩΨΦ | Fraternity | 17 November 1911 | Howard University | Decatur, Georgia | 750 | 1930 | First fraternity to be founded at a historically black university. | ||
| Delta Sigma Theta | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΔΣΘ | Sorority | 13 January 1913 | Howard University | Washington, D.C. | 1,060 [8] | 350,000 | 1930 | ||
| Phi Beta Sigma | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΦΒΣ | Fraternity | 9 January 1914 | Howard University | Washington, D.C. | 599 (active chapters) [9] | 225,000 | 1931 | Constitutionally bound with Zeta Phi Beta. | |
| Zeta Phi Beta | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΖΦΒ | Sorority | 16 January 1920 | Howard University | Washington, D.C. | 875+ [10] | 125,000 | 1930 | Constitutionally bound with Phi Beta Sigma. | |
| Sigma Gamma Rho | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΣΓΡ | Sorority | 12 November 1922 | Butler University | Cary, North Carolina | 500 [11] | 85,000+ | 1937 | Only NPHC sorority founded at a predominately white institution. | |
| Iota Phi Theta | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΙΦΘ | Fraternity | 19 September 1963 | Morgan State University | Baltimore, Maryland | 300+ | 75,000 [12] | 1996 | Only NPHC organization founded in the second half of the 20th century. |
See also: North American fraternity and sorority 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 only a 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 for recruitment, meetings, stroll/step practices, socializing, and storing chapter paraphernalia but the lack of proper funding and coordination amongst members continues to be a major issue. In substitute of it, some undergraduate chapters have settled for small outdoor Greek plots to help substantiate their presence on campus.[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]