Rhodes College will unveil and dedicate its new National Pan-Hellenic Council Plaza on Saturday, March 23, at 11 a.m. Located south of the Bryan Campus Life Center, in the heart of the campus, the plaza pays tribute to the nine National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) fraternities and sororities, commonly known as the Divine Nine.
In 2022, a group of students made a request to Rhodes College President Jennifer Collins for the physical site. “It recognizes and celebrates the impact and importance of historically Black sororities and fraternities. I am very excited to officially dedicate this campus space during the college’s SpringFest and Black Students and Alumni Family Reunion,” she said.
Most Black fraternities and sororities were founded in the early 1900s, during an era when Black people faced race-related discrimination and were denied certain rights and privileges at predominately white institutions. Established in the early 1930s, the National Pan-Hellenic Council serves as an umbrella organization for the Divine Nine (listed in order of their founding), to engage in collective programming and to promote civic engagement, scholarship, camaraderie, and real-world action and leadership:
- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
- Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
- Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
- Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
- Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
- Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
- Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
- Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
Rhodes College senior Asya Bray is a member of the Nu Phi Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and served as the NPHC Plaza planning and design chair. “Today, we are the navigators of this historical legacy. While celebrating the historically Black sororities and fraternities, we continue to invest in the next generation of Rhodes NPHC,” she said. “The NPHC Plaza was a dream to foster connections between NPHC and the rest of the Rhodes campus, to be a space for a group of organizations who want to leave their mark, and to educate future members and admirers. Let’s reflect on the past even as we are reminded that today we are building a culture of belonging.”
As a part of the college’s landscape, the NPHC Plaza will feature nine plaques displaying each organization’s national founding date, colors, coat of arms, and motto. At the ceremony on March 23, current local chapter presidents or representatives will unveil the plaques.
Update: Below is video from the March 23 event.