Greek Life: History & Facts
Ever wonder where it all started? Watch the video below to get a little bit of history on fraternities and sororities:
Some important facts about Greek life:
The first known fraternity was founded in 1776. John Heath, a student at the College of William and Mary, got rejected by the two Latin secret societies on his campus. He decided, along with some friends, to create the first collegiate Greek-letter society, Phi Beta Kappa. This fraternity was created for the reasoning that these men has the same religious beliefs.
Collegiate social fraternities first date back to the 1850s and the first fraternity house was constructed in 1854.
Fraternities get their name from the Latin word Frater meaning “brother.”
Sororities began in 1851, overcoming their unequal status to men. The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) was founded in 1902 which now has over 4 million members.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) was formed in 1930 and is made up of nine African American fraternities and sororities.
Hazing in the early 1980s and 1990s gave fraternities and sororities their bad reputation. Currently, most fraternities and sororities have an active anti-hazing policy in place with penalties ranging from disaffiliation of individual members to suspending an entire chapter.
Today, there are over 9 million national members of Greek life.
