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Old 03-15-2002, 03:13 PM
imsohappythatiama imsohappythatiama is offline
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National Panhellenic Conference will celebrate Centennial Year Oct 2001 * Oct 2002

The beginnings of NPC: A Brief History (Part I)

"A Fraternity that holds itself aloof from its mates, quickly grows too weak to give help and too useless to receive it."
--The Golden Key, 1883

By 1882, the Greek system had grown to comprise about 36 groups, including six fraternities for women. During this early time in Greek history, rivalry was rampant. To learn secrets or secure the records of another fraternity was considered an "achievement."

Between the increase in Greek numbers and their penchant for competition, fraternities attracted more than their share of unwanted attention. In 1882, The Golden Key lamented that for nearly a decade fraternities had been singled out for undeserved criticism and suspicion by both college administrators and leading newspapers of the day. The "great mass of people" would judge from newspaper accounts that each fraternity is "purely an evil...which if left to itself, will work for the undermining of the college and the emoralization of its students," one editorial said.

Secrecy also contributed to fraternity criticism. "Why keep a good thing secret?" was the often-posed question of the day. And in 1883,The Golden Key called for its end. "Absolute secrecy set the fraternities against each other in bitter opposition, because they did not know each other's purposes, principles or strength. Absolute secrecy created a bad impression on outsiders, who could not guess what terrible thing was so shrouded and veiled and whispered over. (It) disarmed our friends, who could not defend us since they were obliged to confess that they knew nothing about us."

Importantly, The Golden Key editorial pointed out that absolute secrecy "destroyed the idea of a common fraternity cause by keeping members of the Greek body apart, prevented cooperation for any common aim, narrowed our influence and consequent usefulness, and made it easy for us to be oppressed and separately crushed..."

Not surprisingly, it was fraternity editors who, frequently writing about these issues, were first to propose a formal meeting among the Greek groups. On February 22, 1883, as 14 representatives of Greek groups met at the Fraternity Editors convention in Philadelphia, the editors of the The Beta Theta Pi at the suggestion of the Chi Phi Quarterly broached the idea of a meeting.

A Golden Key editorial after this meeting gave the Panhellenic Council idea "our most cordial support." "There are many points of discipline which one fraternity cannot carry out unless the others are governed by similar laws," the article explained, adding that "...it is particularly desirable that the assembled fraternities should determine their individual rights and privileges in order that they may not ignorantly trespass upon those of each other."
However, the Panhellenic Council meeting was never held in 1884; the required ten fraternities did not commit to coming to New York.

The idea of a Panhellenic Council, however, sparked such wide discussion in fraternity journals that cooperative efforts began to take place throughout the Greek system. Both collegians and alumni worked toward alleviating competition for members and campus honors. Efforts were made to eliminate "lifting," wherein a fraternity would make overtures to members already fully connected with a group. (The name comes from the practice of taking the pin of one fraternity and replacing it with one's own. Occasionally whole chapter charters were "lifted" and replaced.)

By 1890, women's fraternity magazines began suggesting actual dates for a Panhellenic convention. Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first to take action. At its August 1890 Convention in Bloomington, Illinois, Kappa Kappa Gamma voted to "extend an invitation to the different women's fraternities of the United States" to come to a Panhellenic Convention that winter, to be hosted by Phi, Kappa Kappa Gamma's chapter in Boston, Massachusetts.

...continue to Part II...

Last edited by imsohappythatiama; 03-15-2002 at 03:27 PM.
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Old 03-15-2002, 03:20 PM
imsohappythatiama imsohappythatiama is offline
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ational Panhellenic Conference will celebrate its Centennial Year Oct 2001 * Oct 2002

The beginnings of NPC: A Brief History (Part II)

THE FIRST MEETING:

The winter passed and it was April before an evening "tea" ushered in the "Preliminary Convention." It lasted two days, April 16-17, 1891, and was attended by delegates from seven fraternities: three each from Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Kappa Kappa Gamma, and two each from Delta Gamma and Pi Beta Phi.

A Panhellenic organization was formally created with the election of Kappa Kappa Gamma's Lucy Evelyn Wight as President, Margaret Smith of Kappa Alpha Theta as vice president and Emma Harper (Turner) of Pi Beta Phi as secretary.

Five committees were appointed to the study of inter-fraternity courtesy, fraternity jewelry and stationery, World's Fair, Greek journalism and inter-chapter courtesy. The significance of these first committees is exemplified in the recommendations of the inter-fraternity courtesy group, which "heartily" recommended that an inter-fraternity directory be published; that each fraternity and its individual chapters make some formal expression against lifting and double membership; and that preparatory students (high school) no longer be initiated. The foundation for Panhellenism had been established. But it would be another decade before it would mature.

THE INCEPTION OF THE NPC:

The same seven women's groups who had met in Boston in 1891 met in Chicago eleven years later. After 1902, such meetings were held every year until 1915 when a biennial convention was deemed adequate. Chicago was the site of all conventions, but three (held in Evanston, New York City and Berkeley) until the 1915 Convention; after that they were held all over the United States.

The 1902 meeting is considered the first official conference because it formed the basis for the National Panhellenic Conference of today. When first organized, however, the group called itself the Inter-Sorority Conference. The idea of rotating offices originated at the 1902 meeting with each of the seven original member groups serving in order of their founding date and each subsequent member taking its place bydate of membership in the conference.

In 1903, the group ordered the formation of a Panhellenic Association at every school where two or more national fraternities were represented and empowered the first chapter established at each institution to organize the Panhellenic. Chairmanship would be held in rotation by each chapter in order of ts establishment. By 1904, ten fraternities were represented.

2002 will see NPC into a new century, with 26 international groups with more than three million initiated women, 5,200 alumnae groups, 2,900 chapters on 620 campuses, 200 North American Alumnae Panhellenics, and 77,000 new members each year.

Happy 100th birthday, NPC!!!

Last edited by imsohappythatiama; 03-15-2002 at 03:30 PM.
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