​THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL
NPHC promotes interaction through forums, meetings and other mediums for the exchange of information and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives
THE N.P.H.C.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative organization of nine historically African American, international Greek lettered fraternities and sororities. The nine NPHC organizations are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Divine Nine". The member/partner organizations have not formally adopted nor recommended the use of this term to describe their collaborative grouping. The NPHC was formed as a permanent organization on May 10, 1930 on the campus of Howard University, in Washington, D.C. with Matthew W. Bullock as the active Chairman and B. Beatrix Scott as Vice-Chairman. NPHC was incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois in 1937.The council promotes interaction through forums, meetings and other mediums for the exchange of information and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives through various activities and functions.Each constituent member organization determines its own strategic direction and program agenda. Today, the primary purpose and focus of member organizations remains camaraderie and academic excellence for its members and service to the communities they serve. Each promotes community awareness and action through educational, economic, and cultural service activities.
The Story of the NPHC
One day, the Greek gods Brotherhood and Sisterhood realized that they were lonely in the world. They had given birth to various children, but all seemed to forsake their parents. So they decided to join together and create a new breed to fraternal children.
Brotherhood was given the opportunity to create the first child. He decided to take something from the two hemispheres of the world. So he gathered some "old gold" from the sun and black from the night in Egypt. There he created his first born, Alpha Phi Alpha. He granted his son wisdom as a gift of love.
Seeing the child that Brotherhood had created, Sisterhood realized that APHIA should not be alone in the world. Sisterhood roamed the world, looking for entities that she could create her first daughter from. On her journey, she came upon a field of pink flowers surrounded by a fence of green ivy. She knew that these were what she wanted to create her daughter from. Taking the beauty from the flowers and the ivy, Sisterhood created her first daughter, Alpha Kappa Alpha. As a gift for her daughter, Sisterhood created a mirror for AKA not only to view her outward beauty but her inner beauty as well.
Seeing the greatness they had created separately, Brotherhood and Sisterhood decided that they would join together and give birth to the rest of their children. Their first union brought about the birth of their twin sons Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi. These twins from birth were opposites. For one, they were born in two different locations. Kappa had obtained the beauty of his parents while Omega received the strength attributed to the parents. Though there was much conflict between the two personalities, Kappa and Omega expressed much love for each other. Brotherhood and Sisterhood decided to give their twin sons gifts as signs of their personalities. Kappa was given a cane created out of red and white revealing that his beauty only came through blood and sweat. They gave Omega a pair of boots of gold that shined with lightening where ever he stepped and a vest of purple as a sign of his royalty.
To Sisterhood’s delight, their next child was a girl who they called Delta Sigma Theta. Delta, like her older bother Omega, gained more of the strength attribute of her parents. Because of this, her parents gave Delta a red elephant with bright ivory tusks as a sign of her strength.
Shortly after the birth of their daughter Delta, Phi Beta Sigma was brought into this world. His birth occurred as the moon was in its crescent phase. So his parents gave Sigma the sign of the crescent moon. His peaceful nature was ascribed by the parents to the dove that sang the coming of his birth and would sing to him throughout the day. Sigma’s greatest pride would come in the form of another sister, Zeta Phi Beta Sigma and Zeta developed a bound that was greater than any of the other siblings. Because of their close relationship, Brotherhood and Sisterhood decided to give their daughter a gift of a white cat as an expression of her peacefulness.
These proud parents would soon welcome their next and last daughter into their family. She was given the name Sigma Gamma Rho. She would have an association with her brother Kappa because of the sharing of their birth places. Due to a certain degree of elegance that Gamma Rho exuded, her parents gave her the gift of a well-groomed poodle to express this elegance.
The elite eight would come together to establish their own nation called the National Pan-Hellenic Council. The children of eight would become siblings of nine after a long period of time. The last child that Brotherhood and Sisterhood brought into the world would be their baby boy, Iota Phi Theta. To celebrate this addition, they created a centaur as a gift for their son. The other siblings were somewhat cautious of granting their brother citizenship, but finally did.
Thus becoming known as the "Divine Nine.
"The Greek gods looked down on all their children and say "Well done my children may your light sign in the East forever and may your glory never fade in the West. Never forget that you are all one and from one."