Northern’s Greek letter social fraternities and sororities were introduced primarily to provide smaller groups with a sense of personal identification within a growing and increasingly complex campus community.
While there had been service organizations with Greek names since the 1920s (e.g., Pleiades for women and the Cavaliers for men), the predecessors of today’s Greek system would not come into being for another twenty years.
The first national social sorority on campus was installed on April 29, 1944 as the Alpha Omicron chapter of Delta Sigma Epsilon. Thirty-five pledges comprised this pioneering group.
Three years later, Phi Sigma Epsilon became Northern’s first national social fraternity, installed on May 19, 1947.
Beginning in the 1950s, there was a rapid increase in Greek life membership – seven new sororities and fraternities were organized in 1955 alone. In 1959, six more were established.
These Greek organizations soon formed associations of presidents: The Panhellenic Council for women, and the Intrafraternity Council for men.
The first Black Greek letter organization was organized in 1964 as the Epsilon Phi chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. This opened the door for an additional eight organizations under the control of the National Panhellenic Council, or NPHC.
By the 1970s, Northern boasted 15 national and local sororities and 22 national and local fraternities – only a few less than the University of Illinois. Today, NIU has 44 social fraternities and sororities, with more than 1,600 members.
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