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.^[4]

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.^[3] 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.^[3]

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.^[3] No new member organizations were admitted for the next few decades.^[3]

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.^[5]

In 1917, it changed back to the National Panhellenic Conference, only to return to the National Panhellenic Congress name in 1921.^[3] 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.^[6] That year, the congress also began plans for a centralized headquarters to coordinate and streamline interactions with the separate sororities.^[7]

The Association of Education Sororities (AES) merged with NPC in 1947.^[3] 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.^[8] At the time of its merger with NPC, AES included six member organizations.^[3]

In 1945, NPC returned to its current name of the National Panhellenic Conference.^[3] 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.^[9] By the end of the 1960s and the civil rights movement, NPC sororities eliminated official policies that prevented minority members from joining,^[5] although diversity in Greek life remained an issue.^[10][11]

Panhellenic (literal translation"}]],"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"lit","href":"./Template:Lit"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"all-Greek"}},"i":0}}]}">lit. 'all-Greek') is the Greek word for "All Greek"^[41] 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.^[42] It features shield that symbolizes protection.^[42] On the shield is a laurel wreath that represents victory and the achievement of NPC ideals.^[42] The wreath is pierced by a sword that shows bravery, the "penalty of obligation", and a "willingness to fight for ideals".^[42] Above the shield is a lamp that symbolizes enlightenment, leadership, and scholarship.^[42] The shield is surrounded by a protective cloak, symbolizing education and the influence of NPC.^[42] Below and to the side of the shield is the mantle with the name National Panhellenic Conference.^[42] NPC's color is Kelly green.^[42]

Throughout its history the NPC Executive Board has been led by a chairman.^[44] 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.^[45]

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.^[46] 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