Reunited after years apart

For the first time in 11 years, all 10 chapters of the university's Pan-Hellenic Council, which oversees all minority fraternities and sororities, are present on the campus, each chapter representing a piece of history and culture for the university as well as the black community.

After flourishing for two decades, chapters began to fade in the 1990s because of graduating members, depleting membership and suspensions. Now that the chapters are back, black Greek life is more unified and complete, members said.

Chapters are involved with numerous outreach programs, such as breast cancer awareness, tutoring programs in the area's elementary schools and getting black students involved in the nation's politics to cement the council's renewed presence.

While PHC coordinator Corey Bailey said it is too soon to tell how the university has changed because of the reinstitution of the entire PHC, their presence "is definitely felt."

"There's a buzz around campus," he said. " But we can only speculate until the numbers come in. ... There's more opportunity to take the campus by storm and to advance the black community."

The National Pan-Hellenic Council, which represents the largest historically black fraternities and sororities with about 1.5 million members was formed in 1930 at Howard University. The group was completed with all nine chapters in 1997 with the inclusion of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

This university's PHC was created in 1976 and added a tenth chapter in 1996 with the induction of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc. The university's PHC was founded to create a support network for and improve retention rates among black students, according to Bailey, who is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. It gave black students on the campus a sense of togetherness, he said.

The university's Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. chapter was the first predominately black fraternity to be founded at a majority-white institution in the country in 1971.

The Epsilon Psi chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. followed suit in 1972 amid strong racial hostility on the campus. Through the early years of their chapter, the founders endured racial slurs and threats on their lives. They continued promoting their model of "culture for service, service for humanity," according to the website. A year later, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. became the first predominately black sorority on the campus.

"There is such a historical significance for some of these chapters," Bailey said. Members of the fraternities and sororities on the campus want to continue the tradition of prestige and academic excellence, he added.

Many of the chapters in the Divine Nine were involved in the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements. Martin Luther King Jr. was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., while the founding members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. marched for women's rights in the Women's Suffrage March in Washington in 1913.

Members said there is a renewed sense of togetherness and strength. The image of the university is enhanced because it is now possible for minority students to get the full experience of black Greek life, said Kappa Alpha Fraternity Inc. president Malcom-Jamal Ray, a senior computer science major. Now that all the chapters are back, people can get a better understanding of what it's like at a historically black university, he said.

"Suspensions hurt the PHC," Ray said. "Having everyone back puts everyone on a unified front."

In looking toward the future, many hope the ten chapters of the PHC will continue to have a strong existence on the campus.

"Black Greek life and the black community go hand in hand," said Wanika Fisher, president of the College Park chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

The chapters of the PHC at this university are Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. and Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc.

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