In a small room in Boston in 1891, the first group of women
representing seven women’s fraternal organizations gathered together in
friendship, desiring to know more about each other and to discuss equitable and
ethical recruiting practices. “Possessing an unshakable belief in the power of
women’s friendship, they came to understand that the one thing they could not
afford was to be at odds with each other.”
Common challenges for women during this period included establishing
modern social mores, and improving
legal rights. In an effort to make progress, continued collaboration between
women’s organizations became a priority. May 24, 1902 marks the official
founding date of the Inter-Sorority Conference (present day, the National Panhellenic
Conference). With courage and conviction, trust and friendship, the first
delegates defined what have become time-tested organizational elements of NPC including:
governing precepts/tenets, agreed-upon binding rules, guidelines for establishment
of College Panhellenics and membership practices.
Fast forward 114 years. NPC honors the collaborative
spirit that brought those first women together and celebrates the timeless
value and endurance of Panhellenic friendships. Today, mission, vision and
values frame the daily conversations and work of NPC leadership, staff and
extended NPC family, and drive the strategic direction of NPC. There may be different
terminology but it follows the same trajectory as outlined in the founding
years.
Mission: The National Panhellenic Conference is the
premier advocacy and support organization for the advancement of the sorority
experience Vision: National Panhellenic Conference – Advancing the Sorority Experience Together
Values of NPC: We are committed
to relationships built on trust, through transparency, accountability and
mutual respect. Innovation and our core values of friendship, leadership,
service, knowledge, integrity, and community guide us in fulfilling our
mission.
Our mission, vision and values, coupled with a steadfast
desire to preserve and protect the sorority membership experience and ideals of
women’s friendships made it possible,
“for an alliance of autonomous organizations to remain unified for over a
century, growing stronger together than they could have ever hoped to become
separately.”
Join me in recognition of NPC’s founding, and the persevering
spirit of panhellenic friendships, partnerships and collaboration!
Interfraternally, Donna C. King Chairman 2015-17
Excerpts from Adventure in Friendship-A History of the
National Panhellenic Conference
April is designated by the National Panhellenic Conference as Advisor Appreciation Month. For those who advise and mentor our collegiate members -- including local alumnae chapter advisors and campus-based professionals -- we spotlight and recognize the impact you make, and celebrate all that you do! On behalf of NPC, I extend our appreciation far beyond the 30 days of April.
With a sorority volunteer career of more than 37 years, the opportunities I have had to advise and mentor young women on a regular basis is varied and wide. What a privilege to touch their lives in meaningful and valuable ways, to mentor their journey as leaders, contribute to their personal development and inspire their future engagement in supporting the sorority experience.
When I reflect on the countless women I have had the privilege of working with on campuses across the country, I am reminded of the timeless friendships that have been forged through our mentor/mentee relationships. We have met challenges together, navigated through positive change in their chapters and Panhellenic communities, celebrated successes and milestones. Watching the lives of these women unfold professionally and personally provides an unspeakable volume of satisfaction and gratification.
What about advising young adults inspires and motivates an individual to provide immeasurable services, and often selflessly, countless hours of personal time? Listen closely as both volunteer advisors and campus-based professionals share thoughts on the why and what of serving as advisors and mentors.
To the dedicated fraternity/sorority advisors who work in partnership with NPC and to volunteer advisors who work tirelessly with members of collegiate chapters, we salute you and say thank you! It is our goal through the educational support objective in our strategic plan to provide you with the information and resources you need to advise College Panhellenics and NPC women to the best of your ability. Please let us know if there is anything you need or anything that we can do to assist you.
Remember, impact and influence define your legacy and commitment to the countless students you engage with each and every day.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the NPC blog will spotlight Panhellenic women who are “Working to Form a More Perfect Union.” Along with the theme of Women’s History Month, we recognize women from public service and government. The fourth featured Panhellenic woman is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Alpha Epsilon Phi.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. She attended Cornell University and received a bachelor’s degree in government. She later went to law school – balancing roles as a mother, wife and student – at Harvard University and then graduated from Columbia Law School after her husband Martin got a job in Manhattan. She began paving the way for women in law at Harvard by becoming the first female member of the “Harvard Law Review.” She continued taking steps for women when in 1963 Ginsburg began serving as only the second woman faculty member at Rutgers Law School and then became the first female tenured professor at Columbia Law School where she taught from 1972-80.
In 1971 Ginsburg was a major part of the creation of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. She also served the ACLU as its general counsel from 1973-80 and on its national board from 1974-80. In her work for the ACLU she went before the U.S. Supreme Court with six landmark cases on gender discrimination.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. She served in this position until 1993 when President Bill Clinton appointed her to the U.S. Supreme Court. She is the first Jewish woman to serve as a justice and only the second woman, following Sandra Day O’Connor. She lives by three main rules as a judge: caution, moderation and restraint.
Ginsburg truly has helped shape the history of women, and has been recognized for her efforts. In 1999, she received the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for her contributions to gender equality and civil rights.
"My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the NPC blog will spotlight Panhellenic women who are “Working to Form a More Perfect Union.” Along with the theme of Women’s History Month, we recognize women in public service and government. The third featured Panhellenic woman is former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Alpha Chi Omega.
Dr. Rice was born in Birmingham, Ala., and attended the University of Denver where she
received a bachelor’s degree in political science. She went on to receive a master’s from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. She served Stanford University as its first woman provost from 1993-99.
She was appointed national security adviser by President George W. Bush in 2001, becoming the first black woman and the second woman ever to hold the position. She was later the first black woman to serve as the U.S. Secretary of State. Rice dedicated her position to “transformational diplomacy” with the goal of creating and maintaining well-governed states around the world. She sent American diplomats to troubled locations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Angola and required them to become fluent in two foreign languages.
She has written several books: “Germany Unified and Europe Transformed” (1995) with Philip Zelikow, “The Gorbachev Era” (1986) with Alexander Dallin and “Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army” (1984). She has also received several awards such as the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work with Youth/Teens and the NAACP Image Award – President’s Award.
In 2009, Rice became a founding partner of RiceHadleyGates LLC, which focuses on providing strategic counsel to major corporations. She also sits on the board of Dropbox, the George W. Bush Institute and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, to name just a few.
Rice currently works as a professor of political science at Stanford University. She is also the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution and the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“Differences can be a strength rather than a handicap.” —Condoleezza Rice
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the NPC blog will spotlight Panhellenic women who are “Working to Form a More Perfect Union.” Along with the theme of Women’s History Month, we recognize women from public service and government. This week's featured Panhellenic woman is Senator Barbara Levy Boxer a member of Delta Phi Epsilon. Barbara Levy Boxer was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Brooklyn College where she received a bachelor’s degree in economics. Following college, she went to work as a secretary and then as a stockbroker to support her husband Stewart while he attended Fordham Law School. The Boxers moved to California and had two children. After running for office and losing in 1972, Barbara worked as a journalist and then an aide for Congressman John Burton. She ran for office again and was elected Marin County supervisor where she served for six years and became the first woman president of the Marin County Board of Supervisors. In 1982, she successfully ran for retiring Congressman John Burton’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and won. She served in this role for 10 years. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee she worked to reveal incidents of overspending by the Pentagon. In 1991, during the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas for Supreme Court justice, she led a march of women in support of Anita Hill, who had accused Thomas of harassment.
In 1992, California Senator Alan Cranston retired and Barbara
was elected to his seat. In 2004, when she ran for her third term as senator,
Barbara received nearly 7 million votes, the most votes for a Senate seat in U.S.
history. She is currently serving her fourth term as senator and announced that
she will retire at the end of this term. Following the 2004 election, she took
a position in the Democratic Party's senate leadership as Chief Deputy Whip. She currently serves as the chair of the
Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. Barbara has said, “More than anything, I think as our country matures, we recognize that women deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.” Sources:
March ushers in National Women's History Month, and the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) celebrated International Badge Day on March 7. Both salute and honor the contributions women have made to country, public service and community. Many of those same women honored for service to our country during National Women's History Month also share the commonality of wearing the membership badge of an NPC organization.
The 2016 National Women's History Month theme is "Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government." Women have served their country and exercised their civic duty for decades. Consider Air Force Brigadier General Terri Gabreski, Delta Delta Delta, Rear Admiral of the Navy Marianne Blackburn Drew, Alpha Xi Delta, and Georgia Nesse Gray, Alpha Phi, the first woman appointed treasurer of the United States. There is also Margaret Chase Smith, Sigma Kappa, first female U.S. senator; Condoleezza Rice, Alpha Chi Omega, U.S. secretary of state; and Ruth Bader Gingsburg, Alpha Epsilon Phi, U.S. Supreme Court justice. These women and their selfless acts of courage and conviction -- woven together with honor, loyalty and love of country -- are defining moments in history and the current world we live in today.
Over the course of the month of March, NPC will salute sorority women in public service and government leadership through blogs and social media. Visit Pinterest to learn more about contemporary women who daily are making a difference, impacting public policy and creating a more democratic society.
Reflecting on National Women's History month and notable sorority women honored for their contributions, I cannot help but draw parallels between those called to leadership and public service today and the brave and courageous women who founded the 26 inter/national NPC organizations over a century ago. I salute those women who founded our organizations. Their vision for offering a membership experience that affords women an opportunity to lead, succeed and serve is timeless.
Thank you for celebrating with us -- and all women -- the tremendous contributions made by those women who inspire and serve as role models from the past and those who serve among us today.
