Founded 90 years ago at Howard University, the National Pan-Hellenic Council is an historically African American collaborative organization for international Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities. It was created at a time when Greek-lettered organizations comprised of Black students were banned from being associated with Greek-lettered organizations with White students as a means to come together and work through mutual interests.

Comprised of nine organizations, most popularly known as “The Divine 9 (D9),” NPHC’s mission is “...to foster cooperative actions of its members in dealing with matters of mutual concern. To this end, the NPHC promotes the wellbeing if its affiliate fraternities and sororities, facilitates the establishment and development of local councils of the NPHC and provides leadership training for its constituents.” The council promotes interaction between the organizations as a means for cooperative programming and focuses on “...community awareness and action through educational, economic, and cultural service activities.” The Divine 9 were all created at a time when African Americans were being denied basic human rights and exposed “...a need for African Americans to align themselves with other individuals sharing common goals and ideals.” The D9 include:

• Alpha Phi Alpha
• Alpha Kappa Alpha
• Kappa Alpha Psi
• Omega Psi Phi
• Delta Sigma Theta
• Phi Beta Sigma
• Zeta Phi Beta
• Sigma Gamma Rho
• Iota Phi Theta

Through meetings, workshops, and other events, NPHC “works cooperatively with and contributes to other community groups,” including:

• National Black Leadership Roundtable
• National Coalition of Black Voter Participation
• NAACP
• Urban League
• National Council of Negro Women
• United Negro College Fund
• National Interfraternity Conference
• National Panhellenic Conference
• Association of Fraternity Advisors
• Fraternity Executives Association
• Congressional Black Caucus

Typically, full time students in good standing with a minimum GPA of 2.85 are eligible to apply to a Greek-letter organization on campus. Membership to NPHC is considered a lifelong journey and graduates are expected to continue work through the alumni association by attending meetings, conferences, and national conventions while remaining an active part of the community in which he/she lives.

As a reminder, our team continues to operate with a modified business solution, complete with remote and isolated order processing locations. Our goal is to safely deliver honor and recognition gear to schools and institutions to have ready for their students once graduation dates have been reworked. We understand the importance of graduation regalia and what it means to students and faculty and want graduates to mark their accomplishments in a way in which they deserve. No matter what your commencement ceremony looks like this year, our honor and recognition gear means the same and looks just as great!

*Cover photo courtesy of The Hill Top.