We all are aware of Greek life on the campus of OSU, but were you aware that there is African-American Greek life organizations here on our campus. Let me give you a brief history on these organizations.
December 4, 1906 on the campus of Cornell University came about the first black Greek fraternity named Alpha Phi Alpha. At Cornell University there were men of color and women who were allowed to attend Predominantly White Intuitions, but were not allowed to participate in the current Greek life. Therefore they came together within a study group, and formed Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. (ΑΦΑ).
The movement spread from New York to Washington, DC at the campus of Howard University where the first African-American sority Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. (ΑΚΑ) was formed on January 15, 1908.
Soon thereafter Kappa Alpha Psi (ΚΑΨ), Omega Psi Phi (ΩΨΦ), Delta Sigma Theta (ΔΣΘ), Phi Beta Sigma (ΦΒΣ), Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ), Sigma Gamma Rho (ΣΓΡ), and Iota Phi Theta (ΙΦΘ) came about, and these fraternities and sororities formed what is named to be the Divine Nine and on May 10th, 1930, the National Pan-Hellenic Council was formed. NPHC organizations were founded and continue to be vehicles for social justice, as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. helped fight for women’s suffrage, members of Phi Beta Sigma Inc. were involved with the march in Selma, Alabama, and leader Martin Luther King Jr. was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Inc.
Recently talking with OSU’s NPHC President Matthew Newsome (ΩΨΦ) and Graduate Teaching Assistant for the NPHC, Hammed Sirleaf (ΦΒΣ) they would like to debunk a few myths about The National PanHellenic Council.
Myth #1: All NPHC Organizations do is Stroll, Step, and Party.
“ People think about Stomp The Yard the Movie, and think this is what black Greeks do, but this is false. The dynamics of these organizations is that they can have fun, but they also are about their business, and are fully engaged in their academics.”
– Hammed Sirleaf
Myth #2: You cannot show interest in a NPHC Organization.
“ Showing interest is not a scary thing. It’s as if you are making a new friend. If you want to show interest, you can get up and get to know us, but don’t sit back and let everyone else tell you who we are.”
– Matthew Newsome
“ The whole secrecy myth only comes about when it comes to New Member Presentations also known as Probates, as the new members hide their faces until they are revealed to the whole student body, but if you are interested say something, we want to have quality people apart of these organizations.”
– Hammed Sirleaf
Myth #3: These are “social” organizations.
“ Sometimes you come for the strolling and the social events, but people continue to interact with us, because of our community service, the study sessions we host, and the brother and sisterhood that we display.”
– Matthew Newsome.
Are you interested in African-American Greek Life or other Multicultural Greek organizations?
Follow them on Twitter @okstateNPHC and @MGC_OSU to get updates on their events and interest meetings!