"Lost Sororities" Where are they??
 

I read in my alumna magazine that in 1957 there was a total of 32 NPC organizations. Now there are only 26. Can someone tell me what happened to the other 6?

Thanks, I appreciate it! :)

Well, Tracy...

I can help account for one of them.

According to my Promise book, in 1959, Pi Kappa Sigma sorority merged with Sigma Kappa, reducing the number of sororities in the NPC by one.

My guess as to the other five is that they did something along the same lines.

Hope that helps.

Greek Love,

Lil Snakey K
Andria

In 1959, Theta Sigma Upsilon merged with AGD. :)

Two down, four to go!

The only mergers that I know of after 1957, besides the two already mentioned, are Theta Upsilon m. Delta Zeta, 5/6/62 and Beta Sigma Omicron m. Zeta Tau Alpha, 8/64.

Iota Alpha Pi and Kappa Beta Gamma had been members of NPC but I don’t know when they resigned. These could be the third and fourth groups.

What exactly happens when a fraternity merges with another one? What happens to the members, do they switch? How do they chose which letters will go on, and which ones disappear?

I will try to answer this as best as I can, being part of an organization that was involved in the largest fraternity merger in history. In 1985, Phi Sigma Kappa merged with Phi Sigma Epsilon. Compared to how it could have been, the merger was relatively straightforward. The ideals of the two GLOs were pretty close to each other, and part of the ritual of PSE was incorporated into Phi Sigma Kappa. Also, our crest was slightly redesigned to include Phi Sigma Epsilon's contribution.

As far as members switching over, they would be Phi Sigma Kappas, but we still recognize the handshake and badge from the Phi Sigma Epsilon days for those who were initiated into PSE. And I think only one school, (maybe Penn State?) had both chapters at their school, so that confusion was minimized as much as possible.

Hope this clears up things and answers your question!

DZ Mergers
 

Tracy, I learned at Convention that Delta Zeta had 4 mergers - Theta Upsilon, Delta Sigma Epsilon, Phi Omega Pi, and Beta Alpha Phi. I'm not sure if any of those were included in the 32 sororities mentioned in The Lamp, though.
Heather Brown
Delta Zeta II 98

I'm not sure if this group is listed, but in 1939 Alpha Delta Theta, a younger national sosrority, approached Phi Mu wanting to merge. The two groups did, and Phi Mu gained six or seven chapters.

Re: DZ Mergers
 

The merger with Theta Upsilon is a possibility as it happened 5/6/1962. The other groups Phi Omega Pi, Beta Phi Alpha, and Delta Sigma Epsilon occurred before the 1957 article. Phi Omega Pi merged with Delta Zeta, 8/10/46, Beta Phi Alpha merged with Delta Zeta, 6/22/41, and Delta Sigma Epsilon merged with Delta Zeta, 1956.

The interesting thing about Phi Omega Pi is that not all of the chapters went DZ. The Auburn chapter of “POPs”, as they were known, chose to affiliate with AOII.

Alpha Sigma Phi has had two mergers and one consolidation since its founding in 1845.

Phi Pi Phi Fraternity merged with Alpha Sigma Phi in 1939.

Alpha Kappa Pi consolidated with Alpha Sigma Phi in 1946.

Alpha Gamma Upsilon merged (all but a few chapters) in 1965.

Of the three, the consolidation with Alpha Kappa Pi had the greatest impact with the rituals and insignia of Alpha Sigma Phi. The pledging ceremony was adapted from the ritual of Alpha Kappa Pi, and the current ASP pledge pin is adapted from the badge of AKPi.