My thanks to Jane Sutton, Alpha Xi Delta and National Panhellenic Conference Chairman, for being today’s guest blogger. Jane also has her own blog at http://alphaxideltanpc.blogspot.com/
As chairman of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and previously as the national president of Alpha Xi Delta, some of my fondest memories are of times spent with Alumnae Panhellenics all over the country. The opportunity to meet with a collection of like-minded individuals who share my love and passion for the sorority experience is always a pleasure and they have great stories. I have always found the history of these organizations to be fascinating.
Alumnae Panhellenics (originally called City Panhellenics) were first formed in 1910, only eight years after the creation of the NPC (originally called the Inter-Sorority Conference). The role of the Alumnae Panhellenics was to assist the Conference in its quest to “improve the methods of rushing and pledging and to consider questions of general interest to the sorority world,” (Report of the Fifth Inter-Sorority Conference from Sept. 14, 1906).
In 1959 there were 275 Alumnae Panhellenics across the country with a purposeful connection to NPC. In 1975 the name was changed from City Panhellenics to Alumnae Panhellenics but the role of providing recruitment assistance remained. In addition, more and more Alumnae Panhellenics began fundraising initiatives to provide scholarships to sorority women. In 2011-12 over $332,495 was raised by Alumnae Panhellenics for scholarships awarded to 297 sorority women and $97,629 was raised for community needs. In addition, over 45,000 hours of community service work was done.
Today we state that Alumnae Panhellenics exist to:
• Inform fraternity women of current trends.
• Promote the fraternity system.
• Improve the Panhellenic image.
• Stimulate a continuing interest in Panhellenic affairs.
There are over 200 Alumnae Panhellenics serving the fraternal world and their communities with a variety of programs. Some are more social, some fundraise and do massive community outreach efforts and some still maintain the recruitment support role. The NPC member groups also have 3,887 alumnae clubs or chapters supporting their own initiatives.
Regardless of their current purpose their collective history remains ingrained in NPC and our success. We understand and value the role alumnae play in our own organizations but also in NPC and the lives of the women and communities they are changing every day.
A small (2″ x 3″) ceramic favor purchased on eBay. It is from the 50th anniversary of the Denver City Panhellenic.*
* The Denver City Panhellenic is now the Denver Area Alumnae Panhellenic. It traces its history to 1908 when it was formed as a club. This entry from the Pi Beta Phi Denver Alumnae Club in the July 1909 Arrow makes reference to it, “The Pan-Hellenic Club in Denver is quite large and at the banquet this spring more than one hundred members were present. There are two meetings a year, a banquet in the spring and a party in the fall given by the fraternity whose member is president, that office going by rotation to the different fraternities.” It is also interesting to note that in 1908 there were only two NPC groups at the University of Denver; Pi Beta Phi’s chapter was founded in 1885 and Gamma Phi Beta’s chapter was chartered in 1897. By 1908, there were also four NPC groups on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder – Pi Beta Phi (1884), Delta Gamma (1886), Kappa Kappa Gamma (1901) and Chi Omega (1906).
