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Establishment of the First Fraternity at UW
Phi Delta Theta was the first fraternity established at UW-Madison. Since then, the UW campus saw a rapid increase in the Greek community. -
Establishment of the First Sorority at UW
Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first sorority established on the UW-Madison campus. It encouraged other national chapters to form houses at UW. -
Founding of the North-American Interfraternity
The North-American Interfraternity Conference organized in 1909 became official in 1910. The purpose is for all fraternities to be represented by a single delegate. Participating fraternities are intended to abide by the policies and rules created by The North-American Interfraternity system. -
Permanent Establishment of the National Panhellenic Council
The temporary National Panhellenic Conference founded in 1902 became a permanent organization in May of 1930 at Howard University in Washington, DC. Its purpose is to govern students participating in Greek life chapters. It is the oldest and largest women's membership organization, representing more than 4 million women. -
Threat to Ban Fraternities and Sororities
The UW student government hosted a session on discrimination in which they voted to ban fraternities and sororities that did not rid themselves of their discriminatory clauses within the following 3 years. -
Establishment of Human Rights Committee
In its first statement after the Human Rights Committee was founded, the committee described discrimination as a corrosive ideal that the university, specifically the Human Rights Committee, would be working to eliminate. -
Black Greek-letter Organizations form
For decades, UW fostered an anti-Black and exclusive environment within Greek organizations. The Black Greek-letter Organizations formed in the 1960s and has helped create a safe and accepting community for Black students on a predominantly white campus. However, many white Greek organizations still possess discriminatory values. -
Elimination of Discrimination Clauses
Until 1961, various Greek organizations on UW’s campus restricted membership based on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. UW was one of the first universities nationwide to completely eliminate the clauses in all of its Greek organizations. -
Racial Issues Surface
Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity organized a “slave auction” imitating famous African-American characteristics and a “Harlem” room at a party featuring watermelon jugs. This raised questions of the relationship between the Greek community and UW as a whole. -
National Panhellenic Council Bylaws
The National Panhellenic Council released their first-ever bylaws, providing basic information on councils and recruitment to policies addressing hazing, sexual assault and discrimination. These bylaws are in place to govern the 26 national chapters that are part of the Panhellenic Council. These bylaws are updated each year. -
Recent Sorority and Fraternity Statistics
As of 2018, the Greek Community at UW-Madison has been made up of over 4,000 students representing about 14% of the UW community.