National Panhellenic Conference

Members of Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha organized the Association of Pedagogical Sororities on July 10, 1915. Its members were primarily sororities located on state campuses mainly attended by women entering the educational field. In 1917, Pi Kappa Sigma and Delta Sigma Epsilon joined the association, followed by Theta Sigma Upsilon in 1925, Alpha Sigma Tau in 1926, and Pi Delta Theta in 1931. At the third biennial conference, the name of the association was changed to the Association of Educational Sororities. Later, the word Educational was changed to Education.

From 1915 through 1926, the NPC and AES operated chapters in the same colleges and universities. In 1926, the NPC and AES made an agreement "defining fields of activities of each panhellenic". There was competition between NPC and AES sororities, and dual memberships were often held. By the 1940s many teachers' colleges had begun to add liberal arts programs, and vice versa, which led to difficulties in the organizations functioning separately.[2][8]

On November 12, 1947, at a conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the NPC considered and granted associate membership "with reservations" to the six AES sororities. The AES was holding its biennial meeting when it was notified of the NPC decision and, at that meeting, "completed the necessary business and took formal action to dissolve the Association".[9] The NPC admitted five other sororities at the same time: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma, Sigma Delta Tau, and Theta Phi Alpha. In December 1951, all 11 of these sororities became full NPC members. Since that time, three AES members have merged with other NPC groups, leaving Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Sigma Sigma Sigma as the remaining former AES members.

From the 1940s to the 1960s, various smaller organizations merged into larger ones. On some campuses with two different chapters from merged sororities, a third sorority would organize on the campus to absorb the smaller sorority's former chapter.[10]

By the end of the 1960s and the civil rights movement, NPC sororities eliminated official policies that prevented minority members from joining,[4] although diversity in Greek life remained an issue.[11][12]

As of the 2010s, sorority members and outside observers noticed a shift in sorority culture; though sororities began as feminist organizations, emphasis during the mid-1900s on social reputations and exclusionary recruitment policies (such as a refusal to recruit Jewish and African-American women) led to a reputation for following cultural hegemony and being made up of upper-class white women.[13] Though such issues continue to persist in various ways, sorority and anti-sorority women alike observed sororities becoming more ethnically diverse and moving away from traditional power structures towards their feminist roots.[13] In the 2010s, sorority members began attempts to change how sororities work from within.[13]

In November 2015, eight NPC members (Alpha Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Phi Mu, Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Delta Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Gamma, and Gamma Phi Beta) broke ranks from the NPC to withdraw their support for the Safe Campus Act, a controversial bill that would have required campus sexual assault victims to report to police and submit to a law enforcement investigation before their school could begin its own investigation.[14]

In 2016, collegiate members began discussing membership offers for transgender women, which was supported by some national organizations with changes to their national policies;[15][16][17] however, some national organizations delayed membership offers for trans women due to fears about Title IX exemption status, which caused dissent in local chapters.[18] Though the NPC created a gender identity study group to examine potential legal consequences, they concluded that the legal precedents were "incomplete, inconclusive, and inconsistent," and did not enact official policy or recommendations.[19]

By 2021, most national organizations had released political statements on racial and social equity and inclusion, while also developing membership policies regarding gender identity. Delta Phi Epsilon developed a policy explicitly open to trans and non-binary individuals,[20] and sororities open to anyone who identifies as a woman include: Alpha Chi Omega,[21] Alpha Delta Pi,[22] Alpha Epsilon Phi,[23] Alpha Sigma Tau,[24] Chi Omega, [25] Delta Gamma,[26] Gamma Phi Beta,[27] Kappa Alpha Theta,[28] Kappa Delta,[29] Kappa Kappa Gamma,[30]Phi Sigma Sigma,[31] Sigma Sigma Sigma,[32] and Theta Phi Alpha.[33] Sororities open to anyone who identifies and lives as a woman include: Alpha Gamma Delta,[34] Alpha Omicron Pi,[35] Alpha Xi Delta,[36] Delta Delta Delta,[37] Pi Beta Phi,[38] Sigma Delta Tau,[39] and Sigma Kappa,[40] while Zeta Tau Alpha specifies that the individual must consistently identify and live as a woman.[41]