A Message From the NPC Chairman: Taking our priorities directly to Capitol Hill

Cherry blossoms weren’t the only things making their presence known in Washington, D.C., during the month of April. On April 10, more than 250 fraternity and sorority members, both alumni and students, were on Capitol Hill advocating for sororities and fraternities and the value the experience provides to our members. 

Our organizations create a unique community of support. They are the one place on a college campus, where through a shared single-sex experience, young women or men can enjoy a sense of belonging, empowerment and personal development.

This is why, each year since 2002, the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition (FGRC), which is a collaborative effort between the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), Fraternity/Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC) and Fraternity and Sorority Action Fund (FSAF), goes to Washington, D.C., to advocate for and educate legislators on the value of sororities and fraternities and the policy priorities important to NPC and NIC.

The FGRC collectively represents 92 single-sex fraternities and sororities nationwide with more than 800,000 undergraduate members at over 9,500 chapters on almost 700 campuses, as well as more than 9.1 million alumni. The NPC and NIC set and execute the advocacy agenda for the FGRC.

This year, our group had more than 460 meetings on Capitol Hill between fraternity/sorority members and legislators or their staff, focused on the value of the fraternity/sorority experience and two higher education policy priorities. The first priority is to ensure our members’ freedom of association rights are not being violated by any institution of higher education that accepts federal financial aid. The second is for Congress to enhance federal disclosure laws related to hazing so parents and students will know which student organizations provide an experience that is meaningful and does not risk the health and safety of its members.

These topics directly align with the NPC Government Relations Platform, specifically Pillar One: Preservation of the sorority experience and Pillar Two: Advancement of student and campus safety. 

Working together with like-minded individuals and organizations, we will continue to build support for the soon-to-be-introduced Collegiate Freedom of Association Act (CFAA), which focuses on:

• Preserving students’ ability to choose the organization they want to associate with by preventing universities from taking adverse actions against students who are members of fraternities and sororities simply because they chose to join a single-sex organization.
• Protecting the rights of single-sex organizations to define their own membership criteria by preventing universities from requiring our organizations to admit members that do not meet our membership criteria.
• Providing all student organizations with equal treatment under the law by ensuring universities cannot impose operational policies or restrictions on single-sex organizations, including the timing of recruitment, that are not imposed on other student organizations.

We are also working with elected officials to introduce the END ALL Hazing Act that requires colleges and universities to have a webpage with information about any student organization that has been disciplined for hazing or other misconduct that threatened the well-being of students in the last five years. Additionally, we continue to support the REACH Act (H.R. 662/S. 706) – Report and Educate About Campus Hazing – which would require universities to include incidents of hazing in their Clery Act reporting and provide students with educational programming related to hazing.

Our organizations’ values of character and dignity guide our members in their daily lives as they serve their university communities. The value of protecting our single-sex experience and keeping our members safe now and into the future cannot be overstated, and NPC will continue to lead the way in advocating for the sorority experience and the health and safety of our members.

From the NPC Chairman: Ensuring vibrant, healthy fraternity and sorority communities

When I wrote my first chairman’s message last November, little did I know how prophetic it might prove to be. Now, as I reflect on this past year, the members of the National Panhellenic Conference most certainly have been “facing challenges and embracing opportunities… together.”

During 2017, we identified many challenges, including a plateau in sorority community expansion and a decline in the number of college-aged students, which make up the vast majority of our potential pool for new members. We were also aware of the impacts to the sorority experience from new generational trends for our current members as well as incoming college students.

All of these things were putting pressure on NPC and our member organizations to examine how we work internally and how we work together. Yet, even more challenges lay ahead including student tragedies that would call us to be even more vigilant in fighting against hazing, alcohol abuse and dangerous social cultures on college campuses.

There also was an increase in policy decisions that would restrict the right of students to freely associate and threaten the opportunity for collegians to become sorority members.

NPC faced these challenges head-on and embraced the opportunities laid before us, and we did so with NPC leadership, staff and our 26 member organizations working toward the same objective: To advance the sorority experience together.

Our work began with five strategic priorities:

• Preservation of the sorority experience
• Growth and sustainability
• Conference structure
• Public relations and marketing strategy to promote the sorority experience
• Implementation of the NPC communication plan

With those priorities in mind, we executed the kinds of operational activities that make a difference for our member organizations, College Panhellenics and Alumnae Panhellenics. It’s that combination of strategic planning and operational work that demonstrates our commitment to tackling important issues that impact the Panhellenic community so the sorority experience may thrive now and for generations to come.

NPC’s voice has been heard as we continue efforts to advocate for and preserve the sorority experience. We have taken our message on campus visits, to state legislators and to the steps of Capitol Hill. Working hand in hand with each other and with our fraternity partners we are making a difference on our campuses, in our communities and on the state and national levels.

NPC continues to advocate for the positions we have taken against infringement on the rights of our organizations through conversations with university and college administrators with the purpose of providing education that we want to be partners with our host institutions, but when oversight overreaches, we are proactive in protecting our future.

Continued collaboration with our member organizations, industry partners and higher education administrators will ensure that our sorority and fraternity communities stay vibrant and healthy now and into the future.

Interfraternally,

Carole J. Jones

2017-19 NPC chairman

For more about the work of NPC, please read our latest annual report.

Feature stories in this year's report include NPC's advocacy work, the work of NPC think tanks to address the challenges of today's world, partnerships, College Panhellenic Academy, College Panhellenic projects, Alumnae Panhellenic projects and communications.

Advocating for the value of the sorority experience

More than 235 fraternity and sorority members, both alumni and students, were on Capitol Hill on April 25 advocating for sororities and fraternities and the value they provide to our members. Our organizations’ values of character and dignity guide our members in their daily lives as they serve their campus and local communities.

Each year since 2002, the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition (FGRC), which is a collaborative effort between the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC) and Fraternity and Sorority Action Fund (FSAF), has lobbied in Washington, D.C., in order to educate legislators on the value of sororities and fraternities and the advocacy issues important to NPC and NIC.

The FGRC represents 92 single-sex fraternities and sororities nationwide with more than 800,000 undergraduate members at over 9,500 chapters on almost 700 campuses, as well as more than 9.1 million alumni. The NPC and NIC set and execute the advocacy agenda for the FGRC. This year’s lobbying efforts, with more than 460 meetings between fraternity/sorority members and legislators or their staffs, focused on the value of the fraternity/sorority experience and our priorities for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA).

This topic directly aligns with Pillar One of the NPC Government Relations Platform: Preservation of the sorority experience.

Working together with the NIC, FSPAC and FSAF, our goal is to gain support for protection of our experience through the reauthorization of the HEA. Our members have a constitutional right to freely assemble and associate, but there is a growing trend to punish single-sex organizations for existing by creating barriers and/or penalizing students who join such organizations. Harvard University is just one example as that institution is now blacklisting students who choose to join single-sex social organizations and seeks to force groups to become co-ed against their will. The Harvard policy affects this year’s freshman class and all future students, penalizing those who join single-sex organizations by rendering them ineligible for leadership positions in recognized student organizations, selection as a sports team captain and the Dean’s endorsement for a Rhodes, Marshall or Fulbright scholarship, where such endorsement is a prerequisite for consideration.

But, it’s not just Harvard that is seeking new ways to restrict freedom of association rights. It has become increasingly common for institutions of higher education to regulate and propose policies aimed at forcing single-sex social organizations to become co-ed or imposing burdensome policies and restrictions that undermine a student’s right to freely associate. Examples include blanket suspensions for all sororities and fraternities on a campus when one student or one organization is accused of misconduct and the adoption of operational restrictions that don’t apply to any other student organization on campus, such as not allowing first semester or first year students to choose to join a sorority or fraternity.

Students and alumni gather on Capitol Hill
to advocate for the fraternity and
sorority experience. More photos.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has taken the first step to protect every student’s freedom of association rights, including with single-sex social organizations. The committee’s HEA reauthorization bill – the PROSPER Act – includes language on this issue, but does not address or prevent actions taken by Harvard or a few other campuses that do not already recognize single-sex organizations.

That was our task on April 25 – to encourage House members to perfect the pending language in the PROSPER Act to include all students and to ask senators to include this same language in their own HEA reauthorization bill.

The value of protecting our single-sex experience now and for generations to come cannot be understated. Our organizations create a unique community of support. They are the one place on a college campus, where through a shared single-sex experience, young women or men can enjoy a sense of belonging, empowerment and personal development. NPC and NIC are committed to continuing to advocate for freedom of association rights for our organizations, and we invite you to join us by contacting your representatives here.