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Phi Kappa Psi Starts The Tradition
The Greek system first made its appearance in the public sphere in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The first fraternity to be established, Phi Kappa Psi, held their first meeting on December 5, 1776. Photo: Posted by Natalie Owl -
The Union Triad
In the early 1800's, the Greek fraternities of Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi were founded. These three made up what is now called the Union Triad. For the first few years of their existence, these fraternities met in secret, holding meetings and initiating new members each year. Photo:Benjamin Foster Carlson -
U.S. Presidents Went Greek Too
Famous American Leaders in Fraternities and Sororities According to the University of Missouri, since 1825, all but two United States Presidents have been fraternity members at their colleges. Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were all members of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Photo: Suzay Lamb -
Delta Beta Chapter
Even Manigault has a facebook!On Saturday, December 6 of 1845, Louis Manigault, principal founder of Delta Beta fraternity at Yale University, created the first written ritual of any Greek society. Manigault envisioned a "fraternal society based on high moral values and centered on the concept of Brotherhood." He also designed the fraternity's badge, which began another tradition that other chapters would follow. Photo: Northern Michigan University/Alpha Sigma Phi -
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Delta Pi, the very first sorority formed, was established on May 15, 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. Alpha Delta Pi still recites their chapter's phrase in ritual meetings today: "First, finest, forever." Photo: Rachel, University of Michigan -
Civil War Disassembles Fraternities
When the American Civil War broke out from 1861-1865, many college men went off to fight, making it difficult to uphold fraternities. With women working hard to support the war and men at battle, most campuses saw a cease in Greek chapters during these years. -
Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
Grand Army of the Republic GAR was founded the year after the Civil War ended and funcioned as a veteran's organization for sailors and soldiers. By 1880, it had grown to 360,000 members and is the largest fraternity in American history. Founded on different principals than fraternities before it, GAR advocated strong republican politics. Photo: Kansas Historic Society -
The Panhellenic Council
With the reapid expanision of the Greek System across the United States, it was decided by members of Phi Beta Pi sorority that a higher government was needed to oversee the activities of the chapters. So in 1902, The National Panhellenic Conference was founded to organize and coordinate sororities. Photo: Bentley University Panhellenic Council -
The North-American Interfraternity Council
Inspired by the Panhellenic Council which governed sororities, the National Interfraternity Conference was founded 7 years later in 1909. Called the North-American Inferfraternity Council today, in it's early years, this council dealt with issues of racial and religious segregation within fraternities. Photo: University of Delaware R.S.O. -
Merging Chapters
The Great Depression put a strain on Greek fraternities and sororites. For many Americans, college was no longer affordable, and membership decreased significantly. In order to keep the Greek community alive, Greek leaders merged chapters together to make due financially and to house enough members to run the chapters. Delta Beta endorsed the influencial soup-line "Highest standard of living" as a recruitment tactic in these hard times. Photo: Erik Dubay -
World War II Kills Off The Greek System
With World War I, the Great Depression and World War II in close chronology to each other, by the time World War II ended on August 14, 1945, the Greek system seemed to have ended as well. On campuses that were turned into training centers for soldiers during World War II, many fraternity and sorority houses were used to house troops. -
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act
Wiki List of Films Based off Perceptions of Greek Life in the 80'sWhen Greek Societies finally recovered and rose up again in the 1980's, many had tranformed into notorious social clubs. So when the legal drinking age in the U.S. was permanately changed to 21, fraternities and sororities faced massive liability issues. The passing of this act by congress caused the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council to impose new bylaws against drinking on Greek chapters. Photo: BBC news article -
The 1990's: Back To Square One
YouTube Video: Greek Life Values Due to the intervening of authorites such as school governments and the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils throughout the 1990's, Greek life saw changes in values that resembled the societies in their beginning years, refocusing on honorary, scholarly attitudes and strong leadership. This movement back to the original morals that Greek chapters were built on set the stage for the Greek community to flourish once again on college campuses across the country. Photo: ISU Pamphlet
