A Brief History of Greek Life
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
by CAROLINE DELISLE ★ JULY 8, 2020
The topic of sororities on college campuses is very polarizing. Most are either all for the sisterhood or despise the system as a whole. Or maybe you’re even a combination of the two. No matter which opinion you hold, everyone is having to analyze what it means to be a part of Greek life. With the insurgence of #BLM protests bringing conversations about equality, or lack thereof, in America to the forefront of our real and virtual lives, many institutions are reevaluating their treatment of minority groups. Some, like panhel, have been coming to grips with the reality of their subpar treatment, not only of POC, but of anyone who isn’t a white, straight, cisgender, wealthy female. It has been brought to light that prejudice and discrimination are deeply embedded in the culture of Greek life, but in order to make progressive changes, we need to think back on how we got here.
Below are a few defining and telling events in the history of sororities, many of which are reflected to this day in the prevalent issues being unearthed about Greek life culture.
1851
Going waaay back to the mid-19th century, the first secret society for women was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The Adelphean Society, which went on to become Alpha Delta Pi in 1913, offered a uniting community to collegiate women during a time in which it was rare for women to attend university. By that point, the first social male fraternity in America (Phi Beta Kappa) had been around for 75 years, so women rallying together to support each other in the very male-dominated world of college was a groundbreaking and progressive step. Obviously times were quite different 169 years ago. Those dresses might fly for a Victorian-era-themed party, but it is definitely a far ways off from the formal dresses we know and love today. Fashion aside, the culture of the 1850s was quite different and extremely flawed. Slavery was still legal and would not be formally outlawed for another 14 years. One of the first recorded same-sex couples in America had just been documented in 1807. “Homosexual acts” were only just beginning to be decriminalized across the world. While we’ve come a long way from this, it is important to recognize the longstanding discrimination that has persisted in a system so deeply rooted in tradition. If an obscure and sanctimonious ritual can survive a century and a half of new chapters, new bylaws, and new ideals, so can racism, prejudice, and elitism.
1908
Over 50 years after the formation of Alpha Delta Pi, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle of Howard University established Alpha Kappa Alpha as the first Black sorority. With the help of founding members including Beulah E. & Lillie Burke, Margaret Flagg Holmes, Marjorie Hill, Lucy Diggs Slowe, Marie Woolfolk Taylor, Anna Easter Brown, and Lavinia Norman, Lyle formed the second Greek organization to ever form on the Howard campus (the first being the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity) and the first ever Greek organization for Black women in America. The sisterhood has around 170,000 members around the world to this day! At the time, America was still deeply segregated. Howard University, along with a few other HBCUs had only just started offering postsecondary courses for Black students. The infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case deeming “separate but equal” to be constitutional was only 12 years old, and HBCUs were still largely underfunded. It wouldn’t be until 1954 that the Supreme Court would recognize the injustice of this separation and begin actively working to integrate educational institutions and improve the educational experience of Black Americans. And spoiler alert: they still wouldn’t do a very good job.
Credit: Instagram (@akasorority1908)
1975
Lambda Theta Alpha was the first Latina-based sorority in America. The alpha chapter was formed by the 17 Founding Mothers at Kean University, and they were the first Latino Greek organization to partner with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Between 1970 and 1980, the LatinX community would increase by over 50% in the US, so the addition of Latina sororities to campuses broadened the college experience for Latina students whose population was quickly growing.
1981
The first MGLO (Multicultural Greek Life Organization) sorority was founded at Rutgers University. That’s just 39 years ago, people! Before this, White Greek Life Organizations were prevalent across the country until the late 1960s when race-based membership was prohibited. However, this prohibition did not stop sororities from setting personalized race “quotas,” nor did it prevent the continued fostering of hostile, racist, prejudiced environments within houses. Afterall, a lot of the stories we what about on social media today are not about formal laws and statements, but about toxic cultures within sorority houses brought on by years of established hierarchy.
1985
Delta Phi Upsilon was established as a homophobia-free Greek organization—the first LGBT-friendly fraternity! Others followed this precedent, founding houses devoted to inclusivity across sexual orientation. It’s no secret that frats cultivate an air of toxic masculinity and femininity. We all love to make fun of the Chads and Brads of frat row and the overzealous Tiffanys and Ambers. But an important implication of this environment is the ostracizing of members who don’t fit those molds. Many students are dissuaded from joining Greek life despite wanting to be a part of the community, because they look at its members and only see one “type”: heteronormative men and women. With time, Greek life is slowly starting to break away from this specificity, but we have a lot to learn. Delta Phi Upsilon and other houses like it offer an inclusive community for students of all sexual orientations, but the goal should be every house offering this inclusivity.
2019
In January of 2019, the historically Black sorority of Zeta Phi Beta adopted a diversity statement in which was written, “an individual must be a cis-gender woman” to become a member. A few months later, upon receiving merited backlash from the public, the organization revoked the statement and began drafting new guidelines. An article further-detailing the event can be found here.
Credit: Pinterest
2020
Far too many discriminatory traditions and practices persist in Greek organizations today. The term “legacy” is used for students whose parents were previously members of Greek houses. These students are often given preferential treatment in the recruitment process, only working to further define the narrow mold of Greek life members. Impoverished students whose parents could not afford the expenses of Greek life, first-generation college students, and the countless others who were disenfranchised or whose lineage was disenfranchised, continue to be left out. Tokenism is another hurtful practice still largely used today. This is when a house recruits minorities to have the effect of making their house look diverse. These members are looked upon as benefiting a group’s image rather than bringing their individuality to the house’s culture. For better insight into tokenism, check out Your Token Black Sorority Woman by Eileen Moudou.
To this day, sororities fight for inclusion, acceptance, and affirmation on college campuses throughout the country, but this fight is moot unless it is fought for all members. We are also forced to reflect on the culture and cause that we are fighting for. Greek life is an institution built on elitist ideology across financial, racial, gender, and sexual orientation barriers. With a foundation so closely intertwined with discriminatory ideologies, it should come as no surprise that incidents of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and classism continue today. Even if you have not seen it firsthand, division is a characteristic from which Greek life is directly derived, unfairly benefitting a small percent of college students, and unless this reality is recognized and attacked, it will continue to foster this inequality. While sororities claim to uphold many wholesome and morally upright ideals, their actions often say otherwise. The hypocrisy of an organization that enables discrimination and hostility—yet claims to foster sisterhood—prevents the cultivation of an environment in which genuine relationships and connections can form.
Thankfully, this hypocrisy is beginning to be addressed. Instagram accounts exposing discriminatory acts of various sororities and fraternities are forming, forcing houses to take responsibility for misconduct against minorities. Conversations are starting to take place and awareness is being spread. Bylaws are being rewritten. Institutions are being reconstructed. It is crucial to recognize where we have fallen short and address the origins of these shortcomings if we are to have any chance of reworking Greek life to be a truly inclusive system.
Cover photo credit: Pinterest (Vintage Sorority — Phoenix Panhellenic Association)