We Hear Your Voices on Sexual Assault Awareness

The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) has taken steps in recent months to address this topic that has become part of the national conversation. Please review the timeline illustrating the progress made by NPC since we entered into the discussions on sexual assault awareness. Some noteworthy actions:

• In February, the NPC Board of Directors approved the attached position statement on sexual assault. This bold move was deliberate and most intentional. We realize that our voice on this topic is important as one of the largest women's organizations in the world.
• We have continued our conversations with RAINN and recommend its hotline -- 800-656-HOPE -- as a resource for students affected by sexual assault.
• Our Student Safety and Sexual Assault Awareness Task Force will issue a preliminary report this weekend to the inter/national presidents.  
• In May, the Student Safety and Sexual Assault Awareness Task Force will present their recommendations to the NPC Board of Directors. We will share the board's decisions on our strategic steps to move forward as plans get underway.

Sororities are a caring community that supports students affected by sexual assault. It takes courage to come forward and report sexual assault, and we applaud those individuals who choose to speak out and navigate their path for justice.

Threads of Friendship and Purposes Everywhere

In celebrating Women’s History Month, I am revisiting the historical records of the founding of NPC and many of our member organizations. It is remarkable to track the progress made by our founders and early pioneers to form women’s-only organizations. These women were bold, ambitious and strategic in establishing chapters from coast to coast — all of this achieved through personal letters, Western Union telegrams and visits by train to campuses in college towns. The early leaders would be amazed at the evolution of our organizations.  

I read this from one of the historical journals, to paraphrase: We are a society of college women devoted to fine friendship and progress. While this historical account tells the story of this progress, we find the threads of friendship and purposes everywhere.

Have we remained true to these purposes? What would our early leaders think of us now?

I honestly believe that our early leaders would be very pleased at the state of sorority in today’s world. You find threads of friendship and purposes everywhere illustrated in pictures of sorority women linked arm in arm posted on Facebook and impact reports of our community outreach. Sorority women are scholars, servant leaders and philanthropists. We make a difference today in our communities by putting our values into action.  

That said I also believe that our early leaders would be troubled with how sororities are being depicted in the media without full consideration of the enrichment that sorority membership adds to the college experience. I have not lost heart in the sorority experience, despite recent news stories. Actions of a few are incongruent with our values and founding principles; it is unfair to use a broad brush to paint all of us with allegations of anything to the contrary of what we stand for. These are indeed challenging times. As sorority women, we must stay the course and continue our efforts to do good and do better.

Friends, we have been entrusted to honor the legacy of our founding principles and pass it on to future generations. I recall a quote from one of my Chi Omega mentors, Kirk Bell Cocke Hassell. She said, “Leadership at its finest is by example. You can show your campus and world what we stand for and, at the same time, enrich your own life.” 

Our shared commitment as a unified coalition of sorority women will allow us to perpetuate the goodness that is embodied in our organizations. Just as our founders were determined to establish a presence on campuses, we are charged with the responsibility to see to it that our women’s-only organizations continue to flourish.  

We must stay true to our ideals. And lead by example.

STEP UP AS OTHERS HAVE BEFORE US

At the conference on girls' leadership and civic education at the White House, speakers addressed the need for women's empowerment through education and mentoring programs. Key messages included:

• Our voices are missing from shaping public policy.
• Women belong at the table where decisions are being made.
• Girls need courage, character and confidence to succeed.

The overall message that resonated with us that day was that girls today are tomorrow's leaders. Our actions as role models will inspire them to lead, and this in turn will impact future generations. Participants were challenged to step up; not to wait to be lifted.

The founders of our sororities were remarkable women. They saw the need to step up and lift others by overcoming obstacles to establish secret societies for women that would offer friendship and support in academic pursuits.

The mid 1800s saw unparalleled times in higher education. When women began to appear on college campuses, there was concern. Some critics asserted that women were not worthy of penetrating the educational sphere for fear it would harm our social culture. Later "scientific evidence" led some to believe that females were unsuited for academic training and the female brain could not handle textbook learning. One influential book written by Dr. Edward Clark raised the notion that higher education damaged a woman's health by inhibiting her reproductive system. There were serious doubts that women would flourish at universities.

From 1850-75, brave women of Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Sigma Kappa and Gamma Phi Beta formed the first women's fraternal organizations in response to male challenges in coeducation settings. Activities for men outnumbered those for women eight to one despite the fact that women accounted for up to one third of the student population on some campuses. In many ways, sororities stood as a daring declaration that women had an equal opportunity on the college campus.

Other women's organizations arrived on the college campus scene: Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Xi Delta, Kappa Delta, Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Delta Zeta, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Theta Phi Alpha, Phi Sigma Sigma, Delta Phi Epsilon and Sigma Delta Tau. Our early sorority members sought self-improvement by allowing their sisters to critique compositions, debate and practice elocution. The sorority setting was a safe environment where women could exercise democratic principles with voice and vote -- years prior to the 19th Amendment. Dedicated to organizational purpose, the ideal of true womanhood was woven throughout ritual ceremonies and mission statements.

Things have changed on college campuses. There are more women attending degree-granting institutions than ever before in history. However, one element has remained unchanged throughout the decades, the strong belief that women's-only organizations add value to the coeducational setting at colleges and universities.

Throughout history our sororities have provided a community where women find support and encouragement. Evidence from a Gallup study on well-being released in May 2014 shows that face-to-face interactions and mentors matter. This impacts the lives of graduates and their workplace engagement and the connection with their communities. These findings are an extension of our organizations' mission to encourage sorority affiliation as a lifelong commitment that helps flourish friendship, responsibility, community engagement and confidence.

Given our rich heritage and principles, National Panhellenic Conference efforts to preserve our single-sex exemption and protect our Title IX rights will not be restrained. We continue to lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill to ensure these rights and will not acquiesce to any university mandate aimed at requiring social fraternities and sororities to become coed.

Step by step, we are making a difference in providing opportunities for women. NPC celebrates Women's History Month in March by scheduling International Badge Day on the first Monday in March. Retrace our steps in history by viewing this video.

Wear your badge March 2 as a tribute to those who have stepped up before us. We must do our part to raise our voices as a unified coalition of women in support of the sorority experience as women's-only organizations. What we do today will impact generations to come.