The History of Greek Life

For the last few weeks, RushTok has been taking over everyone’s TikTok homepages. Girls from all over the country (particularly in the South) have been showcasing their outfits, jewelry, and letting all of us who aren’t in Greek life learn a little bit more about what the process of rushing and recruiting is like. Though rushing has come to an end, the glitz and glamor of Greek life hasn’t, and if you’re anything like me, maybe you want to learn a little bit more about the history of it. How did these sororities and fraternities come to be, and how did they gain so much popularity in the United States?

THE FIRST ORGANIZATION

We can trace the beginnings of Greek life back to 1776 (yes, the same year the American colonists signed the Declaration of Independence). A student named John Heath who was studying Greek on the college campus of William and Mary was rejected by the two secret Latin societies on campus. With his collegiate Greek knowledge, he and a few other friends created the first Greek society on campus and named it Phi Beta Kappa. Heath began a tradition of naming the groups after their secret mottos (also in Greek). In the case of Phi Beta Kappa, the secret motto was Philosophia Bios Kybernethes, which directly translates to “Philosophy is the guide to life.” Each letter of Phi Beta Kappa takes the first letter of the secret motto. During this time, it was not a fraternity. It was actually an academic honor society, admitting both men and women. 

MORE RECENT HISTORY

Now, after John Heath established the first technical Greek life organization, the origin of more modern social fraternities can be traced back to 1825 in Schenectady, New York. At Union College, Kappa Alpha society was founded. Then, two more fraternities were founded in the following two years: Sigma Phi and Delta Phi. These three organizations referred to themselves as fraternities, using the derivation of the Latin word Frater, meaning brother. As these fraternities began to spread across the state and country, more and more national chapters of different fraternities were created.  

SO WHAT ABOUT THE SORORITIES?

Like we mentioned above, RushTok on TikTok is all about the women, but if these fraternities were meant for men, how did sororities get their start? In 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, the very first secret society for women was founded. They called themselves the Adelphean Society and promoted the “mental, moral, social, and domestic improvement of its members.” Wesleyan College gained yet another women’s society known as the Philomathean Society in the following year. Both of these organizations went on to earn their Greek names and were officially named Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu in 1900, almost 50 years after their creation. Prior to the Greek naming of these two organizations, in 1870, the first Greek-letter fraternity for women was created and named Kappa Alpha Theta. In 1874 at Syracuse University, the first official sorority was coined, called Gamma Phi Beta. The term was coined after the Latin word for sister, soror. 

MODERN GREEK LIFE

The beginning half of the 20th century was a big era for sororities and fraternities alike. Particularly after the World Wars, Greek organizations saw an influx of members in their societies, as many young adults were going to or returning to college after these tumultuous times. In 1902, the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) was created to serve as the umbrella organization for over 25 international sororities. Many of these organizations even opened in universities across Canada and Europe where there was a large influx of American students studying abroad. Not long after, different fraternities and sororities were created to cater to people of different religions and nationalities. Today, individual frats and sororities are governed by the members of the organizations, and are usually supported with the help of alumni organizations and those who were once members of these societies. Each organization sets standards (rules for their members to follow), regulates rituals and rush (the recruitment for new members), and so much more!