History Of The American Fraternities And Sororities

By Author: Andre Taylor
Total Articles: 6
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The Greek letter societies in American colleges include fraternities and sororities- that are students associations on college campuses. These fraternities are the first student self-governance system that took shape in the United States in the 18th century. Read on to learn more about their origin and evolution.

It was in the late 18th century that the origin of the American fraternity can be traced back to; with the emergence of literary societies. The students at that time felt the need to discuss current issues as well as the issues directly affecting them and to meet and discuss freely was not allowed on college campuses. What began as literary societies soon became fraternities or brotherhoods of students wishing to find a common thread bonding them for life.

The first fraternity was founded at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, VA on December 5, 1776. The society was formed without the knowledge of the college administration, and was a secret society named as Phi Beta Kappa. This organization defined the characteristics and practices of fraternities that are followed till date. These include- the ...
... Greek-letter name, a Greek motto, an oath of secrecy, a badge, a ritual, a seal and a secret handshake.

Fraternities continued to grow all across North America with Sigma Phi, founded on 4 March 1827 in Union College, New York became the first fraternity to go national when it opened a second chapter at Hamilton College in 1831. Till 1867 these Greek letter societies were only fraternities-as in brotherhoods-with only male undergraduates allowed to join. Women studying also wanted to be a part of these student associations and since they could not get into a men’s frat group, they created their own sorority or sisterhood.

In a short while after the Civil War ended, sororities started blossoming all over the campuses. The first one was Pi Beta Phi, founded at Monmouth College in Illinois on April 28, 1867. African American students were not allowed to join the Greek Letter societies. This led to the birth of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Greek-lettered sorority established by African American college women, on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. As the fraternities and sororities began to grow in the 1900’s, eight historically black organizations united and formed the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
The fraternity members met weekly in dormitory rooms or rented facilities for social and intellectual fellowship. It was in the 1890’s that chapter-owned houses came to the scene and the fraternity movement was given a physical presence. The chapter house was often sponsored and maintained by well placed fraternity alumni, and served as lodging and boarding places for the members. Following this, even colleges and universities stopped opposing this element of college life and began to accept the fraternity system.

The Chapter house became the center point of the fraternities, as a lot was spent on planning, running and maintaining these chapter houses. In the 1920’s, the chapter houses became even more powerful with the rise of this social movement in most colleges and universities. The fast paced popularity and growth can be gathered from the fact that the total number of fraternity houses in the nation increased from 774 in 1920 to 1,874 in 1929.

Fraternities and Sororities are popular till date and aim at filling a void in campus life by fostering friendship, encouraging sociability and providing an outlet for free expression. At present, a Greek sorority aims at bringing together students for a cause; drive them to serve the community and aid in their self improvement too.

The writer is associated with TheGreekSpace, the online directory for fraternity and sorority members to find others from their group and connect with them.