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Did you know that there was a time when African Americans were banned from associating with Greek Letter Organizations?

During the early 20th century more blacks were attending college. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were opening across the nation. And to meet the need of civic service to the community, black Greek letter organizations (BGLO) were formed.

The formation of these BGLOs began in 1906 with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and shortly followed in 1908 with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Between 1906 and 1963, nine such black Greek letter organizations were formed.

In 1930, an umbrella organization call the National Pan-Hellenic Council was established to consider & combat mutual problems of interest to all 9 black fraternities and sororities.

These Black Sororities and Black Fraternities are commonly referred to as the Divine 9:

• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Founded 1906, Cornell University
• Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Founded 1908, Howard University
• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Founded 1911, Indiana University
• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Founded 1911, Howard University
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Founded 1913, Howard University
• Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Founded 1914, Howard University
• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Founded 1920, Howard University
• Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Founded 1922, Butler University
• Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Founded 1963, Morgan State University