Well what about greek organizations outside of PHC? Does anyone know when and if they admitted any white members or members of other ethnicities?

I think it they did have this practice in the past, they would certainly act to eradicate it very quickly, or they would certainly advertise it widely. I am pretty sure that most are open membership, where as long as you have a sincere, sustained committed interested to the group, you are eligible to be a member

According to the KAO website, they've never had a discrimination clause. I have, however, heard that a few NPC groups did PRIOR to the creation of the NPC...can anyone clarify this for me?

Also, I know there's gotta be at least one AOPi on the board...I've heard that AOPi was founded because one founder had been rejected from a sorority at Barnard because she was Jewish...is this true? I know that some sororities (like Chi-O) were founded upon Christian principles. Were there ever discrimination clauses based on religion or nationality?

I also read (in Our Kind of People--has anyone read that book?) about Barbara Delaney at Cornell in '56, but I thought that another sorority at another school had accepted a non-white member prior to '56...'56 sounds really recent. Can anyone clarify?

AEPhi, SDT, DPhiE and PhiSigSig were all founded based on Jewish principles.

Just an FYI, Phi Sig was not founded on Jewish principals. I am a Phi Sigma Sigma. We are a non-sectarian org with a ritual that is NOT based in/on scriptures. The founders were not all Jewish and membership has been open from the begining (11/26/1913)As far as when the first non caucasion was admitted, I'm not sure but I'm sure I could call national and find out. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

I stand corrected. There is definitely a 4th one though...there's AEPhi, DPhiE and SDT and one more. I don't recall what was the 4th one. Maybe it was Theta Phi Alpha?

I seem to recall hearing once that Alpha Gamma Delta was founded on Catholic principles, but I can't recall where I heard that. It could be my mind doing funny things in my "old age".

Delta Phi Epsilon was the first non-secterian sorority to be founded (1917).

Sorry Sioban, PSS was first 1913. http://www.npcwomen.org http://www.phisigmasigma.org http://www.dphie.org

A couple of nifty quotes from "From Here to Fraternity":
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Delta Phi Epsilon was founded as a non-sectarian sorority, but several chapters have historically had a predominantly Jewish membership. (1917) (pg. 272)

Phi Sigma Sigma was founded as a nonsectarian sorority by 10 women of different religious backgrounds. (1913)(pg. 276)

Theta Phi Alpha - the sorority is non-sectarian, although it has historically has had a historically Catholic membership. (1912). (pg. 277)

The first sorority founded was Jewish women was Alpha Epsilon Phi in 1909. Phi Sigma, Delta Phi Epsilon and Sigma Delta Tau were formed between 1913 & 1917. (pg. 226) (side note: this is how I got confused...I got confused between Phi Sigma and Phi Sigma Sigma)
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So for the "older" sororities, like KAO, DG, ADPi, KKG, etc....were they founded as "sectarian" and if so, what did that mean for its prospective rushees? Back then, was it MANDATORY to be of XYZ religion if you wanted to be intiated? Also, does sectarian mean that the oath contains "God" in its words? (Please note: I'm not fishing for people to give away their secret rituals).

I LOVE learning on this board! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

Discrimination in NPCs
 

What sorority was the first to admit a non-caucasian woman? Did any of the sororities have policies about discrimination? Which sororities has the highest number of non-caucasian members?

I believe that it was Sigma Kappa. I don't know the answers to any of your other questions, though, I apologize.

This is copied and pasted from another post:
Sigma Kappa was the first NPC to pledge a non-caucasian woman, Barbara Delany in 1956 at Cornell U.

That's correct.

You could look in an old-old Baird's if you can find one and see if any of the sororities mentioned anything like that in their policies.

Does anyone know if NPC groups keep a racial/nationality statistic on their membership? I'd love to find out which group was the first to (permanently, with the approval of Nationals) accept a non-Caucasian member, and which group has the most non-Caucasian members. I'm sure they don't keep records of it, but it'd be interesting to find out, no? One can peruse a few chapters' websites (especially in the Northeast and West) and find really diverse chapters by looking at their scrapbooks, but numbers would be really neat.

I'm really impressed http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/cool.gifthat you take the time to find out this type of information. It really helps in making better members not of just xyz sorority but all houses. You understand the system better and how it trickles down to you. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif Just curious, are you in a sorority? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif

I forgot to add---Siobhan, I went to your website. It's really good!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

I seem to recall hearing once that Alpha Gamma Delta was founded on Catholic principles, but I can't recall where I heard that. It could be my mind doing funny things in my "old age".

[/B][/QUOTE]
Speaking as a Gam, I don't think it was neccessarily Catholic principles, but Christian principles.

Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it.

On behalf of my Theta sisters (Kappa Alpha Theta - the first greek letter organization known among women:

Kappa Alpha Theta was founded when one of our founders was asked to wear the badge of a friends fraternity (not as a sign of romance but as a sign of her friendship with the organization), she declined saying she would wear it only if she was initiated into their fraternity. After that she set out to found her own fraternity for women based on the fraternity idea that would be a means of uniting young women in common goals with a lasting loyalty to each other and the ideals of the organization.

------------------
Kappa Alpha Theta
Beta Gamma Chapter
Colorado State University
"Where twin stars shine bright!"
Live the dream - go Theta!

"Which sororities has the highest number of non-caucasian members?"
--Supposedly, the NPC doesn't keep tabs on this sort of thing. I never had to fill out anything stating my ethnic background or anything, so unless the president or chapter advisor does an ethnic breakdown of the chapter to send to Nationals, Nationals has no idea what the racial makeup of the sorority is.

I have no statistics on which sorority has the most non-white members. However, my chapter of Alpha Sigma Tau (in California) is predominantly Mexican-American. I am black and my class was very small (just the fourth class initiated into our chapter). Of the other two women initiated with me, one was Indonesian and the other Mexican-American.